Deception
by superhackaninja5
Summary: Five men compete in a deadly game that turns into a fight for lives thanks to the bloodthirsty gamemaster.    Blake Cameron-the seeker  Kai Hiwatari-the manipulator   Itachi Uchiha-the killer  Tala Ivanov-the pawn   Sasuke Uchiha-the victim cross w/ YGO 2
1. Chapter 1:The Missing

Title:Deception

Author:superhackaninja5

Rating:R

Summary:Blake Cameron is a Discrepancies agent, part of the establishment known as the Verbotens. After only a few short weeks on the force, he gets his first case:investigate the disappearances of three of the top members of the establishment. But as he delves deeper into the case, he realizes that it is all a game, the rules of which are known only by the bloodthirsty gamemaster and the winner. The only problem?In this sort of game, there are no winners.

AU set in the real world(sort of)in a city called Secretum(made up obviously) in wherever you think makes the most sense, I haven't figured it out yet.

Warnings:Adult themes, strong language, violence, yaoi, drugs, alcohol

Disclaimer:The main character, the plot and all the settings belong to me. Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade and Naruto belong to their creators. I also own Zyder, Ilyx and Annilee.

(*flip*-indicates pages being flipped in the first part of this chapter.  
" .. "denotes character speaking

_~blah..blah~_denotes character thinking

_blah..blah..`_denotes people speaking telepathically to each other)  
mainly third person, but some chapters are going to be in first person and one or two are going to be in fourth.

Just so there's no confusion with the ages:

Blake-17

Tala-19

Kai-19

Itachi-21

Seto-22

Bryan-18

Spencer-19

Ray-18

Sasuke-17

Kisame-23

Duke-17

Kyoya-18

Zyder-17

Ilyx-18

Bakura-20

Ian-19

Kakashi-26

Annilee-16

Karin-17

Note:Kisame, Karin, Duke, Bakura and Kyoya all have different last names than in their shows. *This story was inspired by one of my favourite fanfics:Sinners by Ladya C. Maxine, I think it was. If you like this story, you should definitely check that out. Of course, it's not as supernatural-influenced, but it is pretty awesome.

* * *

Chapter 1:The Missing

**September 1 **

**Time:01:52 am**

(files)  
_**Name:Kaiba, Seto **_

_**Identification #:41635 **_

_**Code name:DRAGON **_

_**Position:Commander, 2nd level, Exigency field **_

_**Status:Missing**_

*flip*  
_**Name:Uchiha, Itachi **_

_**Identification#:43759 **_

_**Code name:WEASEL **_

_**Position:2nd High Commander **_

_**Status:Missing **_

*flip*  
_**Name:Hiwatari, Kai **_

_**Identification #:45859 **_

_**Code name:PHOENIX **_

_**Position:Commander, 2nd level, Stealth field **_

_**Status:Missing **_

Tick..  
Tock..  
Tick..  
Tock.

Blake sighed and slammed the files shut, frustration clear in his obsidian eyes. He'd been at this for hours and was getting absolutely nowhere.

Why had they assigned him this case, of all things?He didn't even know any of these people, because they were much higher ranked than he, a lowly Discrepancies agent, could ever hope to be. Uchiha was the 2nd High Commander, for crying out loud!And they expected him to find Uchiha?He wouldn't even know where to start looking at this point;those three men had been missing for nearly three years.

~_Breathe, Cameron, breathe._~he ordered himself, closing his eyes and heaving a deep breath. It was past midnight and he'd been here all day, so it was clear what the reasons for his distress were. What wasn't even the slightest bit clear was how he could get rid of them at this hour, or at least, how he could do so in a way that wouldn't get him in trouble if High Commander Ivanov found out.

Making a split-second decision, Blake rose from his desk, stretching his arms behind his head and suppressing a yawn with difficulty. The case would have to wait until tomorrow, he decided firmly. He packed up the stack of files and stuffed them into his black messenger bag, slung the bag and his grey coat over his shoulder and headed for the Compound to could get some much-needed sleep.

* * *

**August 31 **

**Time:24:59**

In a dark corridor, beneath the ground you're standing on, a man who seems to be clothed entirely in shadows appears suddenly and without a single sound. And out of the darkness surrounding him, a second man steps forward, a submachine gun clutched in one of his gloved hands with the barrel pressed hard into the latter's back.

"State your name, or die,"the man holding the gun barks coldly. The latter raises his hands slowly. "If you shoot me, Kon, you're the one who's going to die,"he says, voice calm, but dangerous nonetheless.

The gun drops to the floor and its wielder pushes back his grey hood, revealing golden eyes and ebony hair spilling down his back and over the whisker-like markings on his tanned face. "Kai?"he quips, arching a black eyebrow questioningly. His companion chuckles quietly, turning to face him as he lowers his hands,"Who else has the guts to threaten you, Ray?"

Ray rolls his eyes and bends down to retrieve his gun, but Kai beats him to it and holds the weapon up to eye-level in his slender, ivory fingers with flame tattoos encircling them. "Since when do you use firearms?"Kai questions with mock disapproval. "Since I met you,"was Ray's serious answer, but the glint in his golden orbs tells Kai that he's joking. Kai scoffs derisively and tosses the gun back to Ray deftly before walking past him into the darkness.

"So who're they using this time?"Ray asks curiously, falling into step beside his friend. "One of their latest recruits,"Kai replies tonelessly without slowing his pace,"Recruited him five weeks ago and he's now a Discrepancies agent," "Huh. Sounds like they're getting desperate,"Ray comments, the corners of his lips twitching slightly in amusement.

As they continue walking down the dim corridor, it gradually becomes brighter and more things are visible:black stone walls and floor, curved granite ceiling and Ray's rather overlong ponytail trailing down between his black-clad feet. At the end, it opens into a wide, circular and very vaguely lit room, its only source of light the flickering torches hanging from the black walls. Sounds of the walls being hit can be heard coming audibly from within it. Kai and Ray share a quick look before entering the room slowly and silently.

In the center of the room stands a tall, slim figure. It is not immediately apparent whether this figure is male or female because its eyes are covered by a black blindfold and it is facing the wall at the opposite end of the room. Midnight black hair is tucked into the collar of the figure's red and black cloak with straight bangs framing its face. The wall the figure is facing is littered with holes and silver kunai knives. In the midst of throwing one, the figure turns to face the two men. The blindfold is removed and eyes the color of blood survey the new arrivals impassively.

"You're late, Phoenix,"the man those eyes belonged to states without emotion, stowing the kunai back in its pouch beneath his cloak in a single, fluid motion. "Your tiger delayed me,"Kai says nonchalantly, carelessly waving a hand in Ray's direction. Ray smiles shamelessly at the comment, exposing his canines and the red-eyed man speaks again,"My tiger's job is guarding, Phoenix, as yours is gathering information,"

He steps underneath one of the torches, throwing his pale features into sharp focus, so that Kai can observe him more easily. In doing so, he reveals that he is, in more ways than one, an enigma.

Black bangs framing his white face do their best not to cover his crimson eyes and on the left, the black kohl-thorns encircling his eye; identical to the ones tattooed around his purple-tipped fingers.

"As, of course, I know full well, Weasel,"Kai finishes for him, flicking imaginary dirt out from under his exposed fingernails. "Remove your hood," 'Weasel' orders without preamble, staring Kai straight in the eyes. Kai consents without question and his grey bangs tumble forward out of the hood of his black trenchcoat, falling just short of brushing the lids of his smouldering auburn eyes.

Being called 'Phoenix' entails being another enigma, which Kai is. Though his bangs are grey, the rest of his hair is a sharp contrast:dark blue, almost black and cutting off at the middle of his pale neck, displaying the crimson phoenix symbol burnt there. His trenchcoat is high-collared, but does not cover the flames coiling around his throat, just as his fingerless leather gloves fail to cover the ones around his fingers and wrists.

"Close your eyes and relax, Kai,"Ray whispers out of the corner of his mouth,"You know Itachi can't read your mind if you resist," As if in acquiescence, Kai's pale eyelids fall shut and he carefully lowers the most mundane of his mental defenses, allowing Itachi in just far enough to read the information he needed and nothing else.

`_Keep still, Phoenix_.`Itachi tells him, sensing Kai's wavering balance immediately. Kai takes a deep breath and forces himself to relax as Itachi slowly penetrates his mind, doing his best not to retrieve any unnecessary items from it. He delves far into the back and finally discovers what he's searching for.

When Itachi pulls back, Kai quickly reassembles all of his defenses while clasping at Ray's grey-clad shoulder for support.

"You need more mental strength and practice, Phoenix,"Itachi chides tonelessly,"Then you wouldn't nearly collapse every time I use my powers on you, " Kai shakes his head mutely. Not ready for words yet.

Ray bends over to help Kai straighten himself out and opens his mouth, but right before he is about to speak, Itachi cuts him off,"Dismissed.", nodding for the two teens to leave. "Come on, Phoenix,"Ray drapes an arm around his friend's shoulders and steers him out of the room without another word.

* * *

**September 1 **

**Time:02:05 am**

Blake's destination became visible after about an hour of walking in the same direction.

The compound's large steel doors stood tall in front of him, shimmering slightly under the faint moonlight creeping through the clouds overhead. He pressed his hand to the electronic pad to the left of the door and it glowed.

"Name and identification number,"a mechanical voice commanded instantly upon Blake's contact. "Cameron, Blake;identification 41936,"Blake stated clearly, but being careful not to move his lips too much.

There was a short silence before the mechanical voice spoke again;"Entrance granted,"and the steel doors slid open to admit the young teen.

Cobalt bangs whipping in the wind, Blake cast a quick glance behind him before entering the compound doors clanged shut.

Blake's dark eyelids closed as the elevator whirred, activated and took him down to the ground floor silently without stopping since there were no other floors between the underground and the entrance.

When the elevator came to a halt, the doors slid open again, only this time on the opposite side. Blake turned without opening his eyes and exited the elevator soundlessly. Clearing the doors, he allowed his eyes to slide open and rove carefully over the familiar surroundings;a low-ceilinged, characteristically drab, dark room with barely any light.

Well, not yet.

A row of candle-like lights flickered to life seemingly of their own accord in the center of the room, illuminating it enough to take away the dullness. Silver bookshelves that reached the ceiling lined the hospital-white walls, all completely filled with different sorts of books. Hanging from the likewise colourless ceiling was a very old-fashioned chandelier that hadn't been lit since God-knows-when. But Blake's onyx eyes were resting on the figure standing directly behind the lights. His brown-streaked hair was falling over his closed eyes and, even leaning against the wall, he stood ramrod straight with bare, coffee-coloured arms folded across his black-clad chest, the only reason his arms were bare being the ripped sleeves of his biker jacket. The wavering light made him look slightly haunted.

His observing was interrupted when the man spoke; "Enjoying the view, Blade?"

The man's eyes opened, showing nearly clear irises surrounding thin, black slits that served as his pupils. Blake quickly forced his own eyes upward and retorted dryly,"You know I have better things to do than stare at you, Jackal."

'Jackal' cocked a copper eyebrow and reappeared behind Blake. "Is that so?"he breathed into Blake's ear, deliberately drawing out each individual syllable as his arm loosely encircled Blake's waist. Blake resisted a smirk and slightly tilted his head backward to see 'Jackal' 's free hand idly spinning a bronze switchblade between the thumb and forefinger. "Prove me wrong,"he suggested slyly, eliciting a quiet chuckle from the other man.

"Gladly,"came 'Jackal' 's vaguely husky response and Blake felt something wet gliding over the outer contour of his ear, but didn't react. "You're not proving me wrong,"he taunted instead while he retracted the arm from around his waist and placed its hand on his hip. "Because you taste too fucking good for me to bother,"  
'Jackal' said as his tongue slowly traced Blake's collarbone, "So what's this new case the establishment's commissioned you?"

Blake dropped his bag and kicked it into a corner just before 'Jackal' spun him around and pinned him to the table with his hips. "It's complete bullshit, Zyder,"he answered honestly as his lover nipped at his exposed neck and started to undo the buttons of his armoured vest,"They want me to find those three commanders who went missing and still haven't been found," "Hmm, that's kind of a stretch for a Discrepancies agent, isn't it?"Zyder commented while he removed Blake's vest.  
Tossing it to the floor, he pushed Blake up so that he was sitting on the table and began to undo his pants.

Silence except for the two men's breathing and then.."So they're not even giving you the opportunity turn it down?"Zyder questioned, lifting Blake's dark green t-shirt and beginning to lick at his dark-skinned was no reply for a second as Blake wrapped his legs around Zyder's waist, but when he did reply, his voice was as unaffected as ever,"Of course not. As benevolent as they are, once they commission a case to someone, that someone is on the case whether they like it or not," Zyder paused to pull off Blake's shirt and toss it carelessly on top of his vest before posing another question,"Well, it's your first case. What do you think you'll do?" "Same thing. Now shut up and kiss me,"Blake cut him off, grabbing Zyder's collar and pulling him into a heated kiss.

Zyder chuckled as Blake's tongue pulled his into a furious battle for dominance and let his hands roam freely over Blake's smooth, streamlined body. Blake won the dominance battle and Zyder opened his mouth, allowing Blake's tongue to reacquaint itself with the taste of the wet cavern.

Blake's free hand slid up Zyder's black singlet and tweaked at the hardened nubs beneath it, swallowing his groan in the kiss that was becoming more and more heated by the second.

When they broke apart for lack of air, Zyder pushed back his copper bangs. "Damn, Blade,"he breathed expressively, meeting Blake's impassive obsidian eyes traced his jawline with his tongue and didn't respond. Zyder struggled to catch his breath, but by the time he managed to do so, Blake had already re-dressed, zipped up his pants and slid off the table. He turned to face Zyder. "Enjoyable as this was, I'm tired, so we'll have to continue some other time,"he said without emotion and he departed for his room without another word.

Zyder rolled his eyes before turning off the light and making for his own room.


	2. Chapter 2:The Blackened

Title:Deception

Author:superhackaninja5

Rating:R

Summary:see chapter one

Warnings:see chapter one

Disclaimer:The main character, the plot and all the settings belong to me. Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade and Naruto belong to their creators. I also own Zyder, Ilyx and Annilee.

(" .. "denotes character speaking

_~blah..blah~_denotes character thinking

_blah..blah..`_denotes people speaking telepathically to each other)

mainly third person, but some chapters are going to be in first person and one or two are going to be in fourth.

* * *

Chapter 2:The Blackened

**September 1 **

**Time:06:00 am**

"Sun's not coming up today, it appears,"a dark-haired man murmured quietly to himself, molten amber eyes flashing behind similarly tinted glasses. The man looked to be about in his early twenties with a sharp, soulless gaze that terrified everyone who didn't know him. With a soft thud, his black boots hit the dusty ground as he jumped down from the roof he'd been previously standing atop. Soundlessly, he straightened himself out and made off into the slight fog.

And all the while, a pair of blood-red eyes were watching his every move.

* * *

**September 1 **

**Time:06:25am**

Seto silently entered the circular room, leather silver-lined trenchcoat trailing behind him as he made his way to the center, which was where he would have to make his report to the Operations he reached the desk at the far right, the leather computer chair behind it swiveled slowly around.

Even being the elder, Seto couldn't suppress a shiver as the eyes of blood belonging to the man seated in the chair pierced him, completely void of emotion."You have a report to give, Dragon,"Itachi intoned in a colorless voice, bringing Seto back to reality as he stretched out his black-clad legs fluidly, crossing them at the ankles underneath the desk and resting his elbows on the desktop.

Forcefully, Seto mentally shook himself out of his daze and cleared his throat. "Judging by the fact that the sun hasn't risen like usual, it looks as though it might rain;therefore, we might have to postpone our plans for tonight,"he declared with all the authority he could muster under the intensity of the younger man's gaze.

Deciding to risk his displeasure, Seto allowed his eyes to drop and wander absently until they focused on something he'd never seen before, shining eerily at the front of Itachi's pale throat;a ruby-red cross.

Seto arched one of his dark cross seemed to be embedded in Itachi's very flesh, which meant it was red because it was formed by the midnight-  
haired man's blood. His stare didn't go unnoticed by its object and Itachi pushed into Seto's mind with such shocking force and precision that it nearly knocked the brunette off of his feet.

"You are dismissed,"Itachi stated smoothly, effortlessly cutting Seto off before he had a chance to say anything and swinging his chair back around, letting his pale eyelids fall shut.

He heard Seto leave and unconsciously raised a slender finger to the crimson cross at his throat. It was still slightly sticky with dried blood;and yet, it felt almost sickeningly smooth beneath his fingertips.

Itachi inwardly grimaced at the thought and hastily withdrew his finger. That cut was a reminder, but somehow, it hadn't hurt even a little.

Itachi really was so far past human that he didn't even feel pain anymore.

Ever.

And strangely, that didn't bother him in the slightest.

Who needed emotions, anyways?

* * *

**September 1 **

**Time:06:47 am**

Kai Hiwatari was not someone to mess with.

This is true for several reasons:

First, he doesn't appreciate being toyed with. There aren't enough words in the english language to describe just how much he doesn't and never will appreciate being toyed with;

Second, he was trained to fight and kill by some of the most notorious assassins known to man and has expanded on that training every day since he completed in three weeks' time;

Third, he lives in his own world and holds little regard for anyone besides himself, bar for just a few exceptions;

Last, and most important, he possesses the gift of the phoenix and is the element of fire in human form. His inherent power and skill surpasses many of the strongest fighters and is on par with that of an actual phoenix.

"Kai,"Ray spoke, interrupting the bluenette's thoughts with a stern tone, "How many times have I told you not to smoke after Itachi's mindprobes?"

His friend paused midway through raising the lit cigarette to his pale lips, cocking his head slowly in Ray's direction. "Hn,"he scoffed indifferently, turning away again, forcing Ray to have to repress a groan. Telling Kai anything was impossible after Itachi's mindprobes. But he wasn't about to give up.

Keeping his tone as even as possible, he retorted, "Come on, Kai, I've undergone a few mindprobes myself and smoking afterward tended to weaken my mind even more."

Kai leaned back in his armchair, considering. Then, as if coming to a decision, he flicked the still-lit cigarette into the trash can on the other side of the room, causing the tiger to raise an eyebrow, clearly surprised."You're really giving in that easy?"he quipped, trying to rein in his shock and keep it at a minimum.

"So it appears Ivanov is becoming desperate to locate Kaiba, Uchiha and myself,"Kai deadpanned, deliberately ignoring Ray's obvious incredulity,"And I intend to put his mind at ease," "Really?"Ray said dubiously, his second eyebrow rising to join the first.

A smirk appeared on Kai's mouth. "Now, Kon, when have you ever known me to make idle statements?"he mock chided, casually slinging one of his leather-clad legs over the other and facing Ray again, still with his smirk firmly in place.

Ray pretended to think for a moment before replying,"Never. So how do you intend to go about "putting Ivanov's mind at ease", as you so knowledgeably refer to it as?"

Kai's smirk grew wider,"Now that would be telling,"

* * *

**September 1 **

**Time:23:57pm**

Tala banged open the wooden doors that led to his office and entered it soundlessly. However, as soon as he was in front of his steel desk and the black computer chair behind it spun around to face him, he had to blink in order to make sure his eyes were working properly.

Because sitting in that chair was Kai Hiwatari.

He wasn't the same Kai Tala remembered from three years ago, before he, Uchiha and Kaiba had gone missing, though. He had changed, that much was clear, and in more ways than one, the most prominent being in his appearance.

His once light hair was now deep blue, almost black, though the bangs remained slate grey and his pale torso was adorned with crimson flame tattoos that ranged all the way down to his fingertips, bared by his dark, fingerless gloves, a stark compliment to the dark glasses covering his eyes.

What Tala's gaze was really drawn to, however, was Kai's clothes.

Gone were the trademark blue cargos, muscletop and white scarf, now replaced by an ensemble that would make even straight men faint.

The phoenix was sporting an indigo t-shirt that ended well above his navel underneath a black biker jacket with ripped sleeves that showed off his exceptionally toned arms, which were covered with the same swirling flames that also stretched over his bare, and well-defined stomach. His leather pants were riding low on his hips, showing off the majority of his pelvis, and they gleamed at the sides with criscrossing metal bindings that matched the silver spikes on his boots' heels, rims and toes;all of this was emphasized by the way he was sitting, relaxed, behind Tala's desk, one leg casually crossed over the other, elbows resting on the armrests and expression utterly nonchalant over his steepled fingers, on which his angular chin was placed.

"Good evening, Commander Ivanov,"

Tala's reverie was broken by Hiwatari's smooth voice, which pronounced Tala's title with a slight inflection that the redhead couldn't a massive effort, Tala managed to bring himself back to earth enough to return Hiwatari's greeting. "Kai,"he said, attempting to feign indifference, though his mouth was growing steadily drier by the second as Hiwatari continued to survey him impassively,"What are you doing here?

Hiwatari angled his upper body across the back of the chair, unsteepling his fingers and picking something Tala hadn't noticed before off of the desk:a razor-sharp scalpel, which he then proceeded to idly spin while appearing to think over a what was the longest minute of Tala's life, he spoke again,"You're still searching for the others."

It wasn't a question, merely a statement, but Tala nodded all the same when Hiwatari turned his shielded eyes to face him, still spinning the scalpel so that the blade flashed in the relative darkness. At Tala's confirmation of his statement, Hiwatari rose from the chair, languidly circling the desk and advancing towards Tala."I surmised as much,"he commented dully, and when Tala said nothing, he kept talking,"Exactly how far are you willing to go to discover the other's locations?"

Again, Tala chose not to answer, because he was too busy keeping an eye on the scalpel that was coming nearer and nearer, much like its wielder. And the wolf found himself wondering if he should draw the Sig Sauer holstered in his belt. No sooner had the thought occurred to him, though, that Hiwatari appeared behind him, still in possession of the scalpel, of course. Tala made to draw his gun, but the arm that reached for it was instantly and effortlessly wrenched behind his back, along with the other.

The feel of the scalpel blade against his chest effectively put a halt to his futile struggles.

"Hardly a complimentary answer, Commander,"Hiwatari clicked his tongue disapprovingly, his voice smooth and mocking in Tala's ear.

"What are you talking-"Tala burst out, but Hiwatari moved the scalpel blade to press against his windpipe, silencing him immediately. "You shouldn't pull guns on old friends,"Hiwatari pretended to lecture him, tapping the point of the scalpel underneath Tala's chin. Tala leaned back, trying to put even the tiniest sliver of space between his throat and the deadly blade, but the presence of Hiwatari made that quite difficult. As far as he could see, he had two choices:get his throat slit or make physical contact with the most unpredictable man in the world. It should've been a simple decision, considering that the slightest bit of pressure would slice his throat open at this point.

Attempting to prevent himself from trembling, he shifted his head back, so it was laying on Hiwatari's shoulder, leaving a 2 millimeter gap between his throat and the scalpel. Hiwatari appeared unfazed by this action and merely allowed the scalpel to remain where it was without comment.

"Now that you're in no position to be pulling weapons on me, I have a couple of things to say to you and you will give me your undivided attention,"he stated confidently, tone as devoid of emotion as ever, "Firstly, the others and I don't appreciate being classified as missing or as an assignment. If you intend to find us, do it yourself because we are people, not objects. Secondly, assigning our case to a first-level Discrepancies agent is an insult, which brings me to my third and final point;Blake Cameron is not the person you should've assigned to find us. You have marked him and if you don't pull him out, he could very well end up as another establishment casualty;and by casualty, I mean victim,"

Throughout his entire speech, Tala had to be careful not to so much as breathe too deeply for fear of getting too close to the scalpel. But he did make a reply,"Why does it matter?"The humourless chuckle Hiwatari gave sent shivers down Tala's spine. "It's not so much a question of mattering as it is a question of if you're willing to sacrifice Cameron to find us," he replied cryptically, his cool indifference making the hairs at the back of Tala's neck stand on end.

Straining to keep his head tilted backward, Tala shot back, "Are you making me choose between his life and finding you?" "An oversimplification, but in essence correct,"Hiwatari confirmed,"You can let him continue with the case and risk him getting killed along the way, or you can pull him off, take on the case yourself and not have another person's death on your conscience. And you can turn around now, if you like."

The scalpel was removed from underneath Tala's chin and Tala turned around to face Hiwatari, who had remained motionless as he did so, as well as remained wearing his dark glasses and biker jacket even though he was inside.

"Why even bother letting me use an assignment as a pretext for finding you?Why not just tell me where you, Kaiba and Uchiha have been for the last three years?"the redhead questioned, corners of Hiwatari's mouth twitched. "It's true, I could just give you a location now and have you drag out your Special Forces squad to recover us,"he admitted tonelessly, "But where's the fun in that?The Tala Ivanov that I know would appreciate a challenge like this,"

Tala arched an eyebrow at the dual-haired man. "Well, forgive me if I don't jump for joy at the prospect of taking on a challenge that several other people have failed at for nearly half a decade," "You are not 'other people', Commander,"Hiwatari admonished matter-of-factly,"I would've thought you'd realized that, being the head of the establishment," "Even so,"Tala said stubbornly.

It was obvious that Hiwatari had to refrain from rolling his eyes at this point. "If you don't think you can handle it, by all means, allow Cameron to remain on the case, but do remember to consider, Commander, what will happen should he stumble onto something we don't want him to,"he declared in a bored voice. Before Tala could stop them, both of his eyebrows had risen so high, they were in danger of disappearing into his hair. "Why, is there something you're not telling me, besides the obvious?"Tala wondered innocently, though the effort was somewhat ruined by the suspicion in his violet eyes.

Hiwatari finally lowered his dark glasses to survey Tala and the redhead took an involuntary step back at seeing his eyes.

Those eyes didn't look human. They were no longer their previous calm lilac;now the pupils had disappeared and the corneas were dominated by burning auburn irises, like livid flames, and perhaps the most terrifying part of these eyes was, though they held an almost inherent intensity, they carried no emotion whatsoever,"There's a lot I'm not telling you, Commander, but nothing that is necessary for you, or your Discrepancies pet, to know. Now I believe you have a call to attend to," And that was when Tala heard the distinct buzz of his cellphone emitting from his pocket. When he looked up from retrieving it, Hiwatari was gone.

The caller ID on the phone's screen read Agent Blade and still hearing Hiwatari's threat ringing in his head, he pressed the green answer button and raised the phone to his ear. "Yes?"he said curtly into the phone, trying desperately to get his hand to stop shaking."Commander Ivanov?"Blake's voice rang out in his ear, "I know it's late, but do you think we could meet?There's something I've found on the case that I think you should hear in person,"


	3. Chapter 3:The Players

Title:Deception

Author:superhackaninja5

Rating:R

Summary:see chapter one

Warnings:see chapter one

Disclaimer:The main character, the plot and all the settings belong to me. Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade and Naruto belong to their creators. I also own Zyder, Ilyx and Annilee.

(" .. "denotes character speaking

_~blah..blah~_denotes character thinking

_`blah..blah..`_denotes people speaking telepathically to each other)

This chapter is written in the fourth person, and it's sort of like the "Gamemaster"stuff, also rather short. I have a thing about cliffhangers, too, so be ready for lots of them from this point on.

* * *

In the end, it all comes down to the game and its players;

The seeker

The manipulator.

The killer.

The pawn.

And the victim.

Five men will begin the game, but only four will survive by committing all forms of deception in order to do so.

No one is exempt from this cardinal rule.

What do you do in a game where the stakes are life or death, the rules are hidden in shadow and your every action is dictated by the enigmatic gamemaster, who appears to be after virtually everyone's blood?

You play.

Because there is no other choice.

Every move the players make determines what the next challenge will be, whether they like it or not.

Loyalties will be tested.

Innocent blood will be spilled.

Priorities will shift.

And what began as a simple game will become a race against time for their lives and the lives of their loved ones in a vicious fight against someone who has the power to control every move and every decision the players make.

All deceivers. All men.

Who will come out on top in the game of survival with the highest stakes imaginable in play, time working against them and their worlds unraveling before their very eyes with no way to stop it?

There is no iron-clad way to tell.

Especially when, in a game like this, there are no winners.

* * *

See?Damn short. And you can decide if that's a cliffhanger or not.


	4. Chapter 4:The Betrayed

Title:Deception

Author:superhackaninja5

Rating:R

Summary:see chapter one

Warnings:see chapter one

Disclaimer:The main character, the plot and all the settings belong to me. Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade and Naruto belong to their creators. I also own Zyder, Ilyx and Annilee.

(" .. "denotes character speaking

_~blah..blah~_denotes character thinking

_`blah..blah..`_denotes people speaking telepathically to each other)

Okay, so after a long, _long _time of being epically stuck, I am finally back and ready to bring you chapter 4 of the masterpiece I call Deception.

So last time on Deception, Tala got an unexpected visit from his estranged friend, Kai Hiwatari, which ended with an ultimatum for Tala;take on the case of his disappearance or risk the death of the one on it now. And Blake's discovered something about said case. What is it?Ooh. I'm just as excited as you are, since even though it's my story, I still don't know what's going to happen next.

R & R please!I just decided that this is just a first attempt, so if you want me to change anything, do tell. Now on with the chapter!

* * *

Chapter 4:The Betrayed

**September 2**

**Time:05:45am**

Tala walked into the debriefing room silently, heart thudding in anticipation of what Blake might have to say.

Said Discrepancies agent was already inside the room, alone and waiting for him patiently. When he caught sight of Tala, he stood up to greet him. "Morning, Commander; thanks for agreeing to meet me so early,"he said politely, bowing his cobalt head in deference.

"Just cut to the chase, Agent Blade,"the wolf waved his greeting away, "What progress have you made?" Blake nodded and retrieved the case files from his bag, dropping them on the table between him and Tala. "I haven't exactly discovered their location, but,"he began, attempting to hide his discomfort, "I did find out something about Hiwatari that might explain why he went missing in the first place,"

Tala's heart felt like it wanted to jump out of his throat, but he forced himself to remain calm. "And that is?"he questioned. If it was something Hiwatari was trying to hide, something drastic enough that he would go missing over it..

"Well..."Blake shifted, then he held out Hiwatari's file to Tala,"See for yourself, Commander,"

The Commander took the file with immense trepidation and opened it carefully. "I put the relevant information at the back,"Blake told him and Tala immediately flipped to the last page. There were pictures pasted to the back cover of two men that Tala, unfortunately, recognized. The first was a tall blond teen known as the Whale;the other, his best friend, a lanky, platinum-haired teen, known as the falcon. Underneath both pictures was a caption that made Tala grimace:

STATUS:DECEASED

And underneath that;"Foul play suspected. Homicide. Prime offender:Kai Hiwatari." ~_Oh._**Shit**.~were the only words Tala could think of at reading this. "You're sure this is reliable?"he barked critically, fighting to keep his voice steady."Well, look at it this way, Commander;would you put it past someone like Hiwatari?"Blake shrugged, black eyes appraising.

_'Consider, commander, what will happen should he stumble onto something we don't want him to...'_

Tala was inwardly reeling. _This _was what Hiwatari was trying to hide. But that didn't make sense;why wouldn't the others want this to get out?After all, it only incriminated Hiwatari, not them;so maybe this _wasn't _what Hiwatari had been talking about?

"No, I wouldn't,"he heard himself admit, closing the file and handing it back to Blake,"Do we have a murder weapon?" "It's been nearly three years, Commander. If anyone knew what the murder weapon was, it's been long forgotten by now,"Blake replied offhandedly. Then he consulted the files again and added,"Their autopsy records are downstairs;looking at them might help us identify a murder weapon." "_You_ can look at those, Blade, since this is your assignment. Identify a murder weapon and report it back to me,"Tala said,"I have rounds to make."

Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and exited the room.

As he cleared the door, he felt his cellphone buzzing in his pants pocket. Pulling out the ice-blue phone, he flipped it open and cast a glance at the caller ID. It read simply"Unknown Caller" Bemused, he pressed the green answer button and held it to his ear,"Hello?" "_I told you to pull him off the case, didn't I?"_a familiar mocking voice answered back coolly, causing Tala to nearly drop the phone.

Tightening his grip, he spluttered. "You-how did you get my number?"he demanded furiously, clenching his free gloved hand in his pocket.

Hiwatari chuckled. "_I know someone-he has all the numbers. Incidentally, that is beside the point at the moment. What did your pet tell you?" "_Is it true, then?Did you kill Bryan and Spencer?"Tala spat out scornfully.

"_I told you, Commander, that something would happen if Cameron discovered information that we didn't want disclosed,"_ "And why wouldn't Uchiha and Kaiba want this to get out? It doesn't hurt them in any way,"Tala questioned, puzzled.

Another chuckle,_"On the contrary, Commander. This case hurts everyone, not only the ones implicated," "_Implicated meaning it's not true?"Tala quipped, desperately now. "_Trust me, Commander, if I killed Kuznetsov and Petrov, people would know because I take pride in my 'work', even if the deceased happen to be former friends," "_So you didn't kill them, then?"Tala surmised hopefully.

_"Now, now, Commander, this is supposed to be a challenge, but not even you are this slow. And while we're on the subject of the case, I thought I told you that we would rather you take it then Cameron?" _

"Yeah, well, last time I checked, I was the one who delegated the assignments, Hiwatari, not you,"Tala retorted defiantly. "_Your lapdog won't be discovering our location, unless by a miracle. The others agree that the only one worthy of knowing it would be you, which is why Cameron is not the one we want on this case," _Before Tala could say a thing, the line went dead.

Arching a crimson eyebrow, Tala snapped the phone shut and stowed it back in his pocket, muttering darkly.

~_What are you hiding, Hiwatari?~_he thought suspiciously,~_And why do you want me to find it?~_

_

* * *

_

**September 2**

**Time:07:05am**

Traipsing through the underground corridors, Itachi kept his hooded head deliberately low, pale eyelids closed over his crimson eyes and hands deep in the pockets of his red and black coats;his high black leather boots made virtually no sound on the stone floor.

_Where are you, Weasel?`_a male voice spoke in his head, low and deep, but with none of the fluidity that Itachi's possessed._I'm meeting you outside of the complex, remember, Falcon.`_Itachi replied effortlessly, not halting his steady pace. He heard a faint snort. `_Yeah, stay put;I'm coming to you and I know where you are.` _'Falcon' said back, cutting him and their connection off abruptly.

'Weasel' stopped in his tracks and in a matter of seconds, he was joined by someone possessing a pair of wide-spanned, tawny falcon wings.

The newcomer landed on his black-sneakered feet and snapped back his wings, revealing the rest of his tall, brown-skinned form. Itachi's eyelids slid open, surveying his companion impassively. "You and Phoenix both seem to have a penchant for being late,"he deadpanned, crimson eyes flashing in the darkness of the corridor. "But I, unlike Phoenix, don't have a penchant for doing things I'm not supposed to," 'Falcon' shot back matter-of-factly, raking a talon-like nail through his black-streaked bangs. "I already know all about Phoenix contacting and appearing to Wolf, if that's what you're referring to,"Itachi stated without emotion, unperturbed,"And that's beside the point," 'Falcon' raised his palms in mock surrender.

"Just thought you'd like to know since this is your operation,"he defended offhandedly, jamming his brown hands into the pockets at the front of his navy jeans,"So you got somebody for me to work my magic on or what?"

"Not at the moment, but I thought _you_'d like to know that the establishment is re-investigating you and Petrov's murder since Phoenix is a suspect,"Itachi told him, turning swiftly around to begin the walk back to the center of the complex, where his office was. 'Falcon' fell into step beside him and replied incredulously,"They're still blaming Kai for that?We all know it wasn't him since Whale and I are obviously still alive and he's our friend." "Apparently, someone went to great lengths to make it seem as though Hiwatari committed the murder,"Itachi observed tonelessly,"They even attacked you with his signature weapon, didn't they?

The man beside him nodded wordlessly, hands still stuffed deep in the pockets of his jeans and worn-out sneakers padding noiselessly over the ground. "What I don't get," 'Falcon' started in a low voice as they neared Itachi's office,"Is why anyone would want to do that in the first place."Itachi deigned not to answer, instead focusing his attention on reaching his office. Once in front of the black, steel-reinforced door, he typed in his entry code and entered the circular room with 'Falcon' close at his heels.

As soon as the door closed behind them, the velvet-like Russian accent of their previous discussion's subject punctuated the air,"So you know about my contacting and appearing to Wolf, Weasel?"

The leather behind his chrome desk swiveled around and Itachi met the smoldering auburn eyes carefully scrutinizing him evenly. "Correct,"he confirmed emotionlessly. Kai arched a single slate eyebrow in question,"What of it?" "You are breaking my only cardinal rule, Phoenix;"Itachi admonished, still in that same monotonous baritone,"No contact is to be made with any members of the establishment unless I say so,"

Kai's slanted eyes just barely narrowed at the reprimand."The time has come for the establishment to pay for their mistakes,"he argued smoothly,"They are framing me for murdering two people who are clearly alive," Itachi sighed.

"I am aware of that, Phoenix. And you are no doubt aware that that is the entire purpose for this operation;or have you forgotten the reason why Dragon and I, as well as you, made the decision to disappear at the exact time when Falcon and Whale's apparent murder was committed?" Kai snorted. "Of course not,"he scoffed,"but in case you haven't noticed, we are about as close to completing our operation as I am to ruling the world." "So, pretty damn close, then,"Itachi commented sardonically, black voids boring into Kai's red ones.

Rising out of the chair, the bluenette drew out the surgical scalpel from his studded weapons belt and directed the point into Itachi's face,"I grow impatient of waiting, _Uchiha._ Do not make the mistake of thinking that just because you're the head of this operation that you're the one in control,"

And with that subtle threat, Kai turned on his heel and stalked soundlessly out of Itachi's office.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," 'Falcon' observed dryly, breaking the billowing silence, eyes on Kai's retreating back. Then he turned to face Itachi,"I'm guessing your plan isn't going as well as Kai would like," Itachi took Kai's vacated place in his desk chair before answering,"Exactly. We've been getting sidelined by the establishment's investigations for months now;it's taken us nearly three years to get this far in the operation and we're still nowhere near completing it. We all want revenge for Kai's framing, but first, we have to figure out _who _framed him and why,"

He pulled out his titanium-encased laptop and switched it on from the side,"I don't suppose you remember who attacked you and Petrov?" 'Falcon' shook his platinum head,"Nope. I've been totally wiped. All that's there is the scalpel and the sound of...roaring, I think,"

"Roaring?"Itachi quipped, cocking a black eyebrow skeptically. "Yeah," 'Falcon said with a slight shrug, adopting a nonchalant stance against the far wall, crossing his legs at the ankles. The glow from the laptop screen illuminated Itachi's bloodless features sharply as he worked on re-constructing the scene of two familiar bodies lying prone across the ground, outside, covered in blood;then he turned it around so 'Falcon' could see it as well. "That was the crime scene, correct?"he asked, leaning back in his chair to wait for an answer.

The falcon's black-rimmed eyes scanned the virtual reconstruction rapidly from his position up against the wall, but when they fell on the image of the bodies, he appeared directly in front of the screen faster than Itachi could blink. "It was a lot more gory than that because the stab wounds were less intricate;whoever attacked us didn't have Kai's style or habit of being a perfectionist when it came to these sort of things,"he pointed out," also, there was a vague shadow there," He prodded the screen to indicate the spot he was talking about, "And it was raining,"

Itachi didn't even blink;he flipped the screen back around to his side and made the appropriate changes. When he turned it to face 'Falcon' for the second time, it was as if he were back to that day;it was a perfect replication of the night he and his best friend's murder had been staged.

"Exactly,"he concluded in satisfaction, crossing his gray-clad arms over his chest. "So whoever committed the attack was more likely than not whoever that shadow belonged to,"Itachi surmised dully, steepling his white fingers in thought."Whoever it was was definitely shorter than Kai, I can tell you that much,"his accompaniment informed him truthfully. "Well, that narrows it down,"Itachi said, tone oozing sarcasm,"There're only about a million or so people in this city who fit that description," "But far less than a million would've had access to a surgical scalpel on the night of the murder," 'Falcon added confidently, silver eyes hardening into diamond.

"We can rule out doctors, that's for sure,"Itachi mused,"so that only leaves about a hundred or so suspects now." 'Falcon' rolled his eyes, "Are you really telling me that more than a hundred people would've had access to a scalpel on December 21st, 1998?" "A scalpel isn't exactly an illegal weapon, Kuznetsov,"the black-haired man told him mechanically, resting his chin on top of his steepled fingers,"And as such, not many people would be hard-pressed to retrieve one at _any _point in the year,"

Kuznetsov shifted his feet uncomfortably. This case was looking more and more impossible to solve by the second. Itachi continued,"Even if we know Phoenix didn't do it, we have to look at why the establishment would suspect him at all when Wolf is aware of the friendship between Phoenix and the victims as well as being involved in it himself." "They're saying they wouldn't put it past Kai to have murdered two of his best friends,"Kuznetsov quoted scathingly, clenching his fists over his forearms and turning his brown knuckles white.

"Look at the facts, Bryan;Hiwatari went missing the same night, the stab wounds were made by his signature weapon and he was famously known for being immensely unpredictable,"Itachi listed in a cool monotone, ticking them off on his fingers, "What does that tell you?" "That unless we come up with irrefutable proof that it was someone else, Kai's going to take the blame," Bryan declared, dejected.

* * *

**September 2**

**Time:11:10am**

~_Something doesn't add up here._~Blake though, turning over the autopsy records of Whale and Falcon's murder in his hand.

Strangely, even though they had the autopsies, the bodies themselves were missing from the establishment's morgue;and the autopsy was strange enough. Multiple stab wounds and lacerations, internal bleeding and signs of being forcibly subdued;he'd know Hiwatari was strong, but not strong enough to cause that much damage to two people who were both twice his size, which was why it looked like something didn't add up.

"Hey, Anchros, mind if I borrow this?"he called to the only other person in the room, who was in the midst of organizing a slew of autopsies. "Whatever you like, Cameron,"the aforementioned man replied, not even looking up from his task. "Right then,"Blake said to himself, folding the reports and tucking them into his messenger bag, along with the case files.

Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he turned and started toward the staircase that led out of the basement. The Commander was waiting for him at the top of the stairs, lithe figure angled across the wall and crimson sunglasses covering his violet eyes, even being inside.

"So what did you find?"the redhead asked as soon as Blake stepped off of the final stair. Blake set his bag down at his feet and withdrew the autopsy report again. "I'm not sure this is entirely accurate, because it just seems too drastic, even for someone like Hiwatari;"he admitted dispassionately,"I mean, stab wounds and postmortem lacerations, as well signs of internal bleeding as well as being forcibly subdued;Kuznetsov and Petrov were _both _twice Hiwatari's size, for Christ's sake,"

Tala's crimson eyebrows shot up so high, they were in danger of disappearing into his hairline. "What do you think the murder weapon was?"he questioned, keeping his voice deliberately empty of emotion. "Judging by the examination of the stab wounds, I'd say some sort of surgical instrument, like a scalpel,"Blake suggested, shrugging his gray-clad shoulders as he stowed the report back into his bag. "I think I know why Hiwatari is a suspect, then;after all, his signature weapon was a scalpel while he was in the establishment,"Tala said, speaking more to himself than to Blake, head tilted downward and bloodless lips creased in a frown.

Blake's ears perked up at this statement;"So we actually have _proof _that it was Hiwatari who committed these murders?"Tala's head snapped at that. "Even if we do, that's not your concern. Your case is _finding _Hiwatari, Kaiba and Uchiha, not proving their suspected involvement in previous crimes,"he deviated from the subject abruptly, glowering and stern.

The Discrepancies agent raised his palms in gesture of surrender. "Okay, okay, I just thought maybe the reason for their disappearance might help shed a little light on their location,"he stated defensively,"I'll put these autopsies back, then, shall I?" The redhead kicked himself off the wall replying indifferently,"You do that. and if you stumble across anything else, unless it helps identify their location, I don't want to hear about it."

Blake gave the back of his head a mock salute before he disappeared down the linoleum hall, gloved hands thrust casually in his coat pockets.

* * *

From behind his mirrored sunglasses, the white walls seemed to be blurring to Tala's vision.

He just kept getting more information in this case that portrayed his old friend as someone completely opposite from the man he's known him as. Sure, Hiwatari had excelled at all the fields given during establishment training, but no one could've acted the way he had before the murder and not been legitimate.

_You didn't know everything about Hiwatari, though, _a little voice in his head reminded him and he suppressed a scowl with difficulty. That, unfortunately, was all too true;he and Hiwatari had been best friends, but he hadn't and still didn't know a thing about the phoenix's life, other than what he saw during ops.

In fact, the extent of his knowledge about Hiwatari's past consisted only of the facts that his parents were both dead and he was born and raised by his uncle in Russia, like Kuznetsov, Petrov and Tala himself; which really wasn't much.

"Fuck,"he swore under his breath, kicking open the double doors that led to his corner office. Thankfully, this time, the room was empty and he was able to drop himself gracelessly into his leather computer chair without interruption.

Leaning back in the chair, he closed his eyes and massaged his temples to try and alleviate some of the tension building there. Sometimes, being the high commander of the establishment wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

* * *

~Flashback~

**December 20**

**Three years ago, 1998**

**24:00pm**

_The door to the underground complex opened without a sound and the person who had opened it entered the room in equal silence. Faint, sotto growls followed in his wake as he awaited the arrival of the one who ran things here._

_A man of average build and with lilac hair entered the room from the opposite side, looking akin to have been in the middle of committing a crime. From the shadows, the figure spoke,_

_"You have something I'm after,"_

_The lilac-haired man whipped around to try and find the source of that low, husky voice, which was laced with danger, so like a lion's growl. "Who's there?"he called out apprehensively, clenching a shaking fist over the handle of a dagger concealed beneath his spiked black cloak. The voice chuckled without humor, still not leaving the shadows. "You have something I'm after, prophecy-keeper,"it all but crooned,"And I am all too willing to _**kill **_in order to get it."_

_"And what exactly are you after?"the lilac-haired man demanded, straining to keep his voice steady as his quartz eyes narrowed ever so slightly._

_Crystal eyes flashed into view directly in front of him, effectively rooting him to his spot. "The prophecy of conquest,"the voice declared smoothly against his skin, sending shivers down his spine._

_His companion's grip on his dagger went almost immediately slack at this words and he repeated dubiously,"The prophecy of conquest?"_

_Golden-tinged lips creased into a rakish smirk and the distinct glint of a silver razor blade was seen,"I don't like repeating myself, prophecy-keeper,"The prophecy-keeper gulped,"Right away, sir,"He bent down behind the metal desk and listlessly rummaged around under the watchful gaze of those piercing clear eyes before finally producing a torn and ancient-looking scroll of paper._

_Those crystal eyes lit up with a malevolent glow and their possessor raised the tip of his razor so it was directed at the prophecy-keeper's throat. "Read it to me, Papov,"he commanded in a soft, yet dangerous tone, leaving no room for arguments._

_Papov hastily unfurled the scroll, keeping a wary eye on the razor as he cleared his throat and read aloud by the light of only the single candle above him;_

" '**_The five most powerful entities;_**

**_ The phoenix, the wolf, the blade, the hawk and the weasel._**

_**To drain their power, **_

_** One must die at the hand of another,**_

_** So the others surrender their souls.**_

_** The hawk must be betrayed by who he loves most;**_

_** And to shadows and misery, one must play host.**_

_** Within the five, only one can win,**_

_** In this game of life, death and pain.**__' _

_The razor shifted and faster than Papov could draw breath, it was pressed against his throat."Are you aware of the identities of those five entities?Blink if the answer is 'yes',"his threatener said quietly. Papov blinked and the man behind him chuckled without humor. The razor lifted,"I will now allow you to tell me their identities,"_

_"Tala Ivanov, Kai Hiwatari, Itachi Uchiha, Blake Cameron and Sasuke Uchiha,"_

_As soon as he finished speaking those names, the razor was once again pressed to his throat and the pressure was noticeably increased. _

_"You will tell no one about this,"the man hissed in his ear and there was more danger in the silkiness of his tone than in the most potent of curses,"Am I understood?Blink,"_

_Papov blinked and the coldness against his throat vanished, along with its source._

_

* * *

_Yeah and just as a note you may have to wait a while for the next chapter cuz i have exams to study for so yeah_  
_


	5. Chapter 5:The Deceived

Title:Deception

Author:superhackaninja5

Rating:R

Summary:see chapter one

Warnings:see chapter one

Disclaimer:The main character, the plot and all the settings belong to me. Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade and Naruto belong to their creators. I also own Zyder.

(" .."denotes character speaking

_~blah..blah~_denotes character thinking

_`blah..blah..`_denotes people speaking telepathically to each other

"**blah...blah..**"other language }

Okay, to start with, there are now only two OC's, so Ilyx and Annilee are disregarded. I will not be using them, nor will they ever be mentioned from here on in. Zyder and Blake I'm keeping on for plot purposes, but the others are unimportant and therefore, they are no longer included. On another note, I'm gonna try to show you why this is rated R in this chapter and from now on. Be prepared for violence, language, graphic content, drinking, possibly drugs and much, much more things that I guarantee will keep you awake at night. I know they do that to me and I'm the one who's writing them. And as a final note, I have a question for all my readers:do you think I portray Kai well?I think I do, but I'm not really sure, so be honest.

For my benefit, a quick recap:when we last met, Tala found out that his old friend Kai Hiwatari might've been responsible for the murders of two of his other friends:Bryan and Spencer. Kai is becoming impatient with the slow progress of the operation that he and Itachi have planned against the establishment;Blake is now focused solely on discovering Kaiba, Uchiha and Hiwatari's locations and the flashback's relevance?Well, you're about to find out.

* * *

Chapter 5:The Deceived

**September 3**

**Time:05:30am**

The game master's golden-tinged lips twitched into a smirk.

It had been almost three years since he'd committed that first ploy in starting the "game" that the conquest prophecy mentioned, but now things were coming full circle. All of the players were in the prime position for him to truly begin his ultimate endgame. And if the players wanted to win, they were going to have to play by _his _rules.

In a voice barely above a whisper, crystal eyes glimmering beneath his mottled green hood, he declared,"Now let the most dangerous game to ever take place _commence."_

_

* * *

_

**September 3**

**Time:05:35am**

Copper eyes, shadowed by slate bangs, stared out at total darkness. The sun hadn't made its appearance for the day yet, and after the rain from the last few nights, there was no guarantee that it would at all.

A faint smoke ring billowed out from a cigarette between flawless, pale curved lips;Kai's position on the roof didn't change.

The darkness suited him well, accentuating the fluid contours of his ivory-skinned and perfectly streamlined form and illuminating the eerie glow that his eyes were emitting. Vague wind rippled through the air, yet his attire showed no regard for the cold, his toned body covered only by a pair of black pants sitting below his hips and a black trenchcoat with the sleeves pushed up past elbows and revealing his muscular, flame-adorned forearms.

His stance, laying across the slanted surface of the roof with his hands tucked behind his head and one leg crossed over the other, was deceptively relaxed and did nothing to reflect his current mood.

The days succeeding his confrontation with Wolf were having a significant impact on him. What was he really hoping to achieve by going after his old friend? Even though he was the head of the establishment, he didn't have a clue what this was all about;or that Kai had been framed for the murders of Whale and Falcon.

Not that Wolf had the evidence right in front of him like he did, since the two victims in question were no longer members of the establishment, being presumed dead and all.

That meeting had, he wasn't loath to admit, put him on edge;it was clear from the way he had acted that Tala didn't trust him anymore. ~_Pity._~he commented to himself, letting his pale eyelids slide shut as he took another drag from his cigarette.~_Things were looking so_ promising _between us before I had to go into hiding._~

The redhead had been someone Kai used to trust with his life. But things were different now; those three years in proverbial exile had taught him to trust no one, not even his best friends. Ray was the only one he even remotely trusted these days, and not even he knew what Kai was planning in order to get to Tala;which, naturally, meant that the Head of Operations, Uchiha(Kai mentally scoffed)didn't know.

Of course, that was no surprise;Kai didn't trust _him _at all. If it weren't for his personal stubbornness in keeping commitments, he would've walked out on Uchiha two years ago;the second it had become apparent that revenge wasn't going to be a speedy dish.

Then, there was the operation itself;so many conditions to meet and so little time. Kai let out a barely perceptible sigh, flicked the still-lit cigarette off of the roof and got to his feet. Brooding was getting him nowhere. He kept his eyes shut and in a second, reappeared at the entrance to the underworld complex where he and the others had set up shop.

Soundlessly, he compelled the gate to open for him and crossed the threshold without a word, heading directly for his office. When he reached his door, his eyelids inexplicably slid automatically open and he found there was a surprise waiting for him:pinned to the centre of the black steel door was a length of paper with script writing from some archaic language inscribed across it.

Kai's amaranth orbs scanned the paper critically and after translating it, they narrowed. The paper read:

`_**Kai Hiwatari:The Manipulator**_

_**September 3**_

_**24:00**_

**_Trinity Church_ **

_**Be there or lose the game...and your life.**__'_

_

* * *

_

**September 3**

**Time:06:10am**

A sycophantic groan emitted from the room at the far end of the Compound. Blake threw a bare arm over his eyes to hold in his annoyance. ~Why _am I up so early on a Saturday morning again_?he wondered, rubbing his brow with the back of his hand.

He sat up and let his eyes wander absently around the sparse, grey room;then they fell on the stack of papers littering his desk. ~_Oh, yeah. Right.~_

Suppressing a second groan with difficulty, Blake swung his feet over the side of his bed and stood up to get dressed, Since it was Saturday and he wouldn't be leaving the Compound, he just threw on a pair of faded jeans and a gray sweater before heading for the kitchen.

The marble tiles were cold underneath his bare feet and because they were underground and there was no other source of illumination, he had to use a candle to light his way down the curved hallway. When he arrived at the kitchen, Zyder was already there, clad in nothing but stonewashed pants and a leather jacket and sitting with his sock-covered feet propped up on the surface of the dining table.

"Thanks for the light, Blade,"the jackal chuckled, absentmindedly tucking a few strands of copper-streaked hair behind his ear. Blake scoffed quietly and headed over to the counter, where he set the candle down next to the coffee machine and proceeded to pour himself a generous amount of the black liquid.

Leaning back against the edge of the granite counter top, Blake took a drink from the steaming mug and closed his eyes. No matter what he kept telling himself, he was no closer to solving this case than world hunger;in other words, not even remotely close. From all of his research on Hiwatari, Uchiha and Kaiba, he had concluded one thing:if they didn't want to be found, then there was no way anyone was going to be able to find them, least of all him. So if he failed his first case, it wasn't his fault and Ivanov couldn't fire him.

~_Yeah, like _he'll _see it that way.~_he thought grimly, clenching his free hand inside his jeans' pocket. The commander was clearly determined to find those three men, if the number of previous handlers of this case was anything to go by.

What Blake wanted answered was why?Why would Ivanov be willing to put so much on the line just to recover those three former commanders? What was so important about them? Sure, they were strong and talented, and Uchiha was the second High Commander, but that was still no reason to cause such a big discrepancy over their disappearance;which meant there was more to this than met the eye.

Ivanov was obviously hiding something;the question was what?There was definitely something not quite right going on and Blake intended to get to the bottom of it.

Finishing the last dregs from the bottom of the mug, he turned and deposited it into the sink before grabbing a slice of bread, retrieving his candle and heading back for his room. "What, I don't get a 'good morning'?"Zyder called after him, getting to his feet and following Blake back down the lightless corridor.

While Blake was walking, he took the opportunity to think a little more in depth about what had been going on recently;attempt to read between the lines a little more.

The first sign that there was more going on than what was obvious was that Ivanov had assigned him this case personally when almost no recruits were ever assigned cases directly by the High Commander in their second week;that had to mean that Ivanov was becoming desperate after nearly three years.

The second sign was the High Commander's reaction when he saw that Hiwatari was the prime suspect in the murders of those two former establishment members. He had been shocked, not to mention obviously scandalized, though he had tried to hide it;that had to meant that he didn't believe Hiwatari would do it.

Blake's eyes narrowed in the darkness. Did Ivanov have a relationship with Hiwatari that he wasn't telling him about? If he was so sure that Hiwatari wouldn't kill Kuznetsov and Petrov...

Blake almost dropped the candle and fought to stay steady;there was a connection between the four of them;Hiwatari, Ivanov and the two victims;he was sure of it.

That conclusion sent his mind reeling;if the connection between the Commander and Hiwatari was personal, why was he assigning everyone else the task of finding him? ~_You'd think he'd want to find Hiwatari himself.~_he mused, a confused frown creasing his dark-skinned forehead.

Combined, those two signs had to mean that Ivanov was all the more determined to find Hiwatari and the others now, but even if he did, Hiwatari was bound to be found guilty and would be sent into exile;but no doubt Ivanov would be looking to disprove that little fact.

No sooner had Blake reached that point that he also reached his room and realized he was already standing in front of his desk.

Placing the candle on the edge of the wooden surface, he pulled out his chair and sat himself down it. Even with all the deductions he had made, he was still far from finding the three former commanders.

With a despondent shake of his head, he shook aside his cobalt bangs and pulled the folder containing the remainder of the case files he was supposed to be studying in front of him.

And recoiled back as if it had stung him. "What's up, Blade?"Zyder's deep voice asked from behind him, sounding concerned. Blake was too stunned to even reprimand the jackal for following him, and all he could do was point wordlessly at a piece of rumpled paper taped to the front cover of the white folder;

`_**Your next case, seeker, begins tonight;Trinity church, midnight.**_

_**Decline at your own peril...'**_

_**

* * *

**_

**September 3**

**Time:07:01am**

Itachi rested his chin on the palm of his hand, crimson eyes staring, unfocused, at the scene displayed on the screen of his titanium-encased laptop.

He hadn't slept the previous night because something about this scene had been nagging at the back of his mind ever since he'd set it up. That shadow, coupled with the roaring Bryan had described meant something;he knew it did;he just didn't know _what _it meant.

The digital reconstruction showed the rain-drenched ground outside the establishment building, across which two male bodies were laying prone and spattered with blood;a faint shadow of a figure just under six feet tall hovered behind them with a scalpel that glinted under the moonless sky. He didn't even lift his gaze from the screen when two of his operatives entered his office, characteristically expressionless.

"You wanted to see us, Weasel?"Ray, the shorter of the two, asked politely, gloved hands hanging casually at his sides. Itachi turned his laptop around so the screen had its back to him,"Tell me what you make of that, Tiger, Whale,"

Sharing a quick glance, both Ray and his taller companion, Spencer, took a step closer and scrutinized the screen carefully. "That's Bryan and I's murder scene,"Spencer said, shrugging his broad shoulders and turning expectantly to Ray. "Whoever that shadow belongs to tried to frame Kai for that,"the tiger all but growled, golden eyes slitting in anger.

"Funnily enough, I managed to work that out myself," Itachi stated dryly,"What I've been trying to figure out is who would have the motive and the brains to do something like that," "I would say anyone who felt inferior to Kai while he was still in the establishment and wanted him kicked out, but this doesn't look like the work of anyone I know of who fits that profile,"Ray said, tucking his hands in his cloak pockets uncomfortably.

"I'm thinking someone outside the establishment who wanted revenge on Kai bad enough to kill two of his best friends and make it look like he did it,"Spencer suggested, pulling up a chair from the corner and dropping into it gracelessly.

The older, darker-haired man inclined his head slightly. "You may have something there, Whale,"he mused,"Besides Wolf and Falcon, you two know Phoenix best;outside of the establishment, does he have any serious enemies?"

Ray just barely managed to suppress a snort,"The only ones I can think of who hate him enough to do something like this don't know a thing about the establishment or Bryan and Spencer," "If I recall, there was the sound of roaring in the background;Bryan mentioned that, didn't he?"Spencer commented, rubbing his chin unconsciously. "Roaring?"Ray repeated, raising a disbelieving eyebrow.

"As a matter of fact, he did,"Itachi confirmed with a slight nod, ignoring Ray. "Well, it's obviously someone who controls an animal that roars and they weren't and aren't a member of the establishment..."Spencer trailed off, eyes swivelling back to Ray, who crossed his arms across his chest. "Hey, I did _not _attack you and Falcon,"he defended emphatically, "If I had, I would've owned up to it by now,"

"They wore a black cloak, anyway, so I think we can rule out it being you,"the whale finished dismissively.

The tiger rolled his eyes and uncrossed his arms."So, we know they wore a black cloak, they were and are not a member of the establishment, they have a grudge against Kai, are obviously extremely clever and control animals that roar,"he summarized. "And they're about your height and know how to handle a scalpel,"Spencer added pointedly. "And that,"Ray agreed, rolling his eyes again.

Itachi filed away all of the information into his brain and did a quick mental scan of everyone he knew of that fit those descriptors;but he came up blank.

"No one I can think of fits all of those,"he admitted tonelessly, "What about you two?"

Ray shook his head, brushing strands of ebony hair behind his pointed his ear, something he did when he was frustrated or uncomfortable about something.

Spencer, however, was frowning and looked thoroughly discomfited. Ray raised an eyebrow, "What's up with you, Whale?" The blonde shifted his feet nervously, "I was just thinking that that sounded a lot like-"

Before he could get the full sentence out, Itachi's laptop beeped and the reconstruction of Bryan and Spencer's murder was replaced by a black screen with these words, in white, written across the center:

`_**Estranged brothers will be reunited for the Game.**_

_**The killer and the victim together at Trinity Church.**_

_**Midnight.**'_

_

* * *

_

**September 3**

**Time:08:15am**

"No, Shark, for the millionth fucking time, you cannot forgo this assignment if you want to stay a member of the establishment,"Tala told the person on the other end of his phone without emotion as he entered his apartment, cellphone pressed to his ear in one hand and a half-empty bottle of strong Russian vodka as well as his house keys clutched in the other.

He kicked the door shut behind him and tossed his keys onto the kitchen counter just as the person on the other end responded in a voice like gravel, "Commander, what exactly is the point of this? It's only collecting intel;it's child's play," "It's your assi-shit;"Tala swore loudly as the vodka bottle slipped out of his hand and hit the ground.

"It's your assignment, Shark,"he repeated, bending over to retrieve it and popping out the cork to throw it in the trash can across the room. He could almost hear `Shark` rolling his eyes before the line went dead.

Rolling his own violet eyes, he snapped his phone shut and proceeded to take a particularly long draught from the bottle in his hand, downing about a quarter of the clear liquid before setting it down and throwing himself onto one of the stools behind the counter, rubbing his alcohol-hazed eyes vigorously.

_~Staying out drinking all night was _**not **_a good idea.~_the redhead mentally grumbled, grimacing at the incessant pounding in his head.

Attempting to steady himself against the counter, he got to his feet and picked up the bottle of vodka before heading for his room while stuffing his cellphone into the sidepocket of his loose dark slacks and kicking off his shoes.

The room was rather small and lacking in some things, like a window and dresser, but he didn't really care. He tugged the covers off his bed, grabbed his Netbook out from under them and placed both the computer and the now three-quarters empty bottle on his desk before sitting down behind it.

"Now where did I save that file?"he muttered under his breath, searching his hard drive while taking yet another drink of vodka, "Ah, there's the elusive little bugger," He clicked on the file and opened it;propping his chin up on his white palm, he then proceeded to read the writing now dominating his screen:

(file)

_**-DECEMBER 1998**_

_**NAME:Hiwatari,Kai**_

_**IDENTIFICATION #:45859**_

_**CODE NAME:PHOENIX**_

_**POSITION:Commander, 2nd level, Stealth field **_

_**FIELDS:All.**_

_**ASSIGNMENTS TO DATE:18 Stealth, 19 Exigency, 12 Torture/Interrogation, 14 Infiltration, 3 Persuasion...the list goes on.**_

_**OVERALL ANALYSIS:A candidate for High Commander. Level-headed, rational, extremely intelligent, calm and not to mention, strong as anyone could ever hope to be. Favours unconventional weapons;signature weapon is a surgical scalpel.**_

(end)

After he came to the end, Tala downed the remainder of the vodka left in the bottle and pinched the bridge of his nose. All Hiwatari's establishment profile was telling him was what he already knew:Hiwatari had been one of the establishment's most talented members and was far too rational to do something like just up and kill two of his best friends. So did that mean that he didn't do it?Tala had no idea.

He wanted to think that Hiwatari was innocent because of their history and because it just didn't seem like something Hiwatari would do, but everything was pointing towards him;the wounds on the deceased's bodies had been made by his signature weapon; Hiwatari was playing the mystery game with him and the night of the murder had been the night Hiwatari, Kaiba and Uchiha had gone missing.

~_Use your common sense, Ivanov.~_he berated himself. ~_If Hiwatari didn't do it, why would he leave and then come back to tell me to kick Cameron off his case?Because there's something he wants me and only me to find.~_That deduction did not please him one bit.

Tala dropped his head on the surface of his desk, shutting his eyes tighter and tighter until he saw white.

All of this was driving him insane. If Hiwatari hadn't been missing for the last three years, then Tala would know if he had committed those murders and things would be a different story;but they, unfortunately, weren't. Tala still didn't have a clue where Hiwatari was or if he really had murdered Bryan and Spencer.

He suppressed a groan with a massive effort;when had his life become so screwed up? Reaching over to switch off his Netbook, he mused it had probably been when he had decided to become friends with Hiwatari.

There had just been a sort of magnetism about the bluenette that had drawn, not only him, but Bryan and Spencer as well, to him;there was no middle ground with how you felt about him;you either loved him or hated him. And there had definitely been more of the latter, which was why they had connected so well.

Even being the cold, reserved person that he was, Hiwatari had still managed to completely enthral him and make him want to know everything about him. Of course, even after almost two and a half years of friendship, Tala still knew next to nothing about the reclusive phoenix, who still haunted him during both waking and sleeping hours;who was now haunting his every though ever since that conversation at the establishment.

"I need another drink,"he mumbled, getting shakily to his feet to retrieve another bottle of vodka from his fridge. Using his teeth, he pried out the cork and spat it into the white trash can in the centre of the colourless kitchen.

Nudging the fridge door closed, Tala tilted his head back and proceeded to drink about half the bottle in one go;so when he heard the distinct buzz coming from his sidepocket, he thought he was just hallucinating because of the amount of alcohol he had just ingested. But when he heard it a second time and actually deigned to check it, he found an extremely cryptic message waiting for him:

_**In a game of chess, the pawns are always the manipulated,**_

Then, another message replaced that one, clearly a continuation of it;

_**In this game, things are no different.**_

Then, a third;

_**Trinity church, at midnight;where your manipulation continues.**_

_**

* * *

**_

**September 3**

**Time:01:15am**

The white-haired man pressed a gloved finger to his earpiece and spoke in a barely discernible Japanese accent, "Target has moved to the location, Hawk;need a hand?" "Negative, Scarecrow. Get back to base;I can handle this,"was the clipped response before the connection was cut.

`Scarecrow` rolled his veiled eyes and disappeared in a blur of shadows.

* * *

The assassin leaped from one branch to the next, seeming as if he was flying, as he followed the directions to his mark. The location was an old, out of the way house in the worst part of the city;the target was someone who Sasuke'd been aiming to get rid of for days and who went by the name of Hiro Granger.

Sasuke could almost feel himself getting nearer and he drew his chokuto blade from the harness strapped to his hip before jumping down from his perch. His leather combat boots hit the road with a soundless thump and he crossed it quickly, heading for the all but abandoned estate with his eyes narrowed behind the black hawk mask that covered the majority of his pale face beneath his spiked, blue-ebony bangs.

There was evident murder in those black coals as he continued onto the house grounds.

But when he reached the front door, he found that the alarm had already been deactivated and the door was wide open. Bewildered and filled with trepidation, Sasuke stepped over the dark threshold and found a trail of blood waiting for him, stained into the dark blue carpet.

He followed the red trail, grip tightening on the handle of his blade and mentally preparing himself for a fight;just in case.

The blood led him into the sitting room, which was filled with the sickly stench of mixed urine and blood.

And lying on the floor, in the middle of the bloodstained carpet, was the target. The man was stripped to his waist and his eyes had been removed from their sockets, leaving bloody black holes and bloody eyestalks in their place;whitish-yellow fluid was pooling out from his sliced stomach and carved into his tanned back was a message.

Sasuke stowed his chokuto blade back in its harness and knelt down to decipher the message.

When he finished, he stood up straight and activated his earpiece, "`Scarecrow`, I think someone's onto us. I'm on my way," He exited the house , the words carved into Granger's back ringing in his mind;`_Playing a killer when you are the victim is pretending to be something you're not. Trinity church at midnight is where the facade ends...`_

_

* * *

_

**September 3**

**23:00pm**

~_Excellent. Now all the players know they're not dealing with anything small-scale this time around.~_the gamemaster thought with satisfaction, spinning his twin katanas in his hand before sheathing them at his waist and slipping on his cloak and grey Ray-Bans.

He exited his hideout silently, walking through the open door without a word. ~_Trinity church.~_ he mentally declared, the corners of his golden lips just barely twitching;~_Fitting, considering it's also where my old life...ended.~_

At the end of the winding corridor, he slid into his dark green SL2 and turned the ignition with a slight growl. Stepping on the gas pedal, he allowed a savage smirk to cross his almond-coloured features beneath the hood of his cloak, ~_Follow me, my servants, for tonight, we shall have vengeance for all the wrongs done to us by the menaces who call themselves...the Verbotens.~_

_

* * *

_

**September 3**

**23:56pm**

All five players arrived at the same time; Sasuke, Blake and Tala by car, Itachi and Kai by shadow travel. Tala was the first to enter the church and when he heard the door opening again behind him and turned around to see who was coming in, he got the surprise of his life.

First came the former second High Commander, Itachi Uchiha, raven hair bound back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck with dark bangs framing his face.

A few things were different about him, though;there were black thorns, drawn from kohl, encircling the corner of his left eye and his slender fingers, a blood red cross staining the front of his throat and tonight, he was dressed simply in a pair of black pants and a red and black coat with a collar that came up past his chin and high, similarly coloured boots that came up over his pants and ended just below his knees.

Next came Kai, clutching a deadly-looking shamshir sword in his gloved left hand and looking uncannily like an undertaker in his knee-length dark trenchcoat, ebony turtleneck, low slacks and steel-toed boots;behind him was Blake, seeming none too pleased about the presence of all these notably lethal men.

The final person to enter was a man with spiked, blue-ebony hair, donning a black hawk mask and a ripped Harley Davidson jacket, who none of them recognized;none, that is, except Itachi.

"Hello, little brother,"the black-haired enigma greeted the newcomer in a cool monotone, crimson eyes staring straight into the eye holes of the black mask.

Said mask was removed at those words, revealing a face almost identical to Itachi's, right down to the utterly deadpan expression, except for one detail;in addition to the blood red irises, there were three curved black blades as pupils. "Itachi,"the younger Uchiha stated dully, blades spinning dangerously, "I should've known you'd be here,"

"I hate to break up this family reunion, but does anyone have a clue why we're _all _here?"Blake's evidently irritated voice cut across the two brothers as he leaned back against one of the pews, crossing his arms over his chest.

Kai smirked slightly, appearing beside Tala, who had to force himself not to cringe away. "That's a question _I_'d like answered as well,"he said silkily, tapping the edge of his shamshir suggestively against Tala's leg, who visibly recoiled from the contact.

As if to answer their question, the clock struck midnight.

And in walked the reason for their presence in that church.

It was clearly a man;he wasn't very tall, seemingly just under six feet, his lithe form covered from head to toe by a mottled green cloak, the hood of which shielded his eyes from view in addition to a pair of grey Ray-Bans. Following him were three golden lions, all of them emitting practically soundless growling sounds from their open maws.

"The reason you are here, my dear pawns,"he spoke in a soft, velvet-like tone, "Is to play my game. Because if you don't, not only you, but anyone and everyone who's ever _laid eyes _on you _will die."_

Tala decided to take the initiative for all of them and stepped forward. "And what proof do we have of that statement when none of us even know who you are?"he challenged, attempting to sound a lot braver than he felt.

The man chuckled, a smooth, dulcet sound completely empty of humour. "You may call me the Gamemaster. And as for verifying my words,"

He snapped his fingers and two more lions appeared at his side, one of them holding a familiar unconscious figure, bound and gagged, between its carcinogenic jaws. ~_Zyder.~_Blake swore mentally, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from lashing out at this ''Gamemaster'' character when he saw his lover.

Sensing Blake's distress and taking his own into account, Tala narrowed his violet eyes. "Let my operative go now and I won't have to kill you,"he commanded abruptly, pale lips pulled back in a snarl as he drew his Mosquito from his belt and directed the muzzle at the ''Gamemaster''.

His opponent just smirked. "I don't think you're the one in a position to be making threats, Commander Ivanov,"he mocked smoothly, "Especially since _I _happen to be holding all the cards,"He snapped his fingers a second time;the lion holding Zyder hostage clamped down its massive jaws on the defenceless man's neck and the silence was punctuated by the sound of vertebrae snapping.

The lion tossed its now decapitated prey to the floor, where blood began to seep out of the side of his punctured neck. Now officially furious, Tala undid the safety catch of his gun and backed the Gamemaster up against the wall.

"You're asking for it, bastard,"he all but growled, struggling to keep his emotions in check. In a sharp contrast, the Gamemaster retained a stubbornly emotionless expression , even feeling the coldness of the gun pressed against the bass of his throat. "Now you know exactly how this game is going to be played,"he snapped his fingers for the third time and the redhead currently threatening him was knocked to the ground, causing him to lose his grip on his gun.

That was when the ice came.

It crept gradually over the floor first, turning the bronze stone a startling shade of pale blue;then the walls were coated with the same colour and the wolves entered;eight of them, all snow-white in colour and larger than any other wolves anyone in that room had ever seen before.

But the strange thing was, instead of pouncing on the four stationary and unprepared men directly in their path, they leaped onto the five lions on top of Tala and began to tear them apart.

"What the hell?"Tala exclaimed under his breath, backing away from the brawling animals and wiping his bloody face off on the back of his sleeve.

He felt hot breath ghost over his ear as a familiar, silky Russian accent spoke into it;"Those wolves have come to protect you, Commander;they are yours to command,"

Kai slipped Tala's gun back into its holster and added, "Fight _him _using them, not this." He stepped back and the redhead pulled himself to his feet.

~_But how do I control them?~_he wondered inside his head, trying not to let his despondence show on his face. `_Use your mind. And your actions.` _that same Russian voice cut into his thoughts with a knowing tone.

Tala shrugged helplessly and tentatively twisted his hand in front of him, concentrating on entering the wolves' minds; `_Forget about the lions for now. Go after their master.~_

The battle between the wolves and lions halted momentarily and half of the wolves retreated, switching targets and beginning to circle the Gamemaster, who had contented himself with sitting silently and casually on the edge of one of the long, wooden pews, almond-skinned features schooled into a carefully unemotional expression.

At seeing the four white canines advancing on him from different directions, the corner of his golden-tinged mouth lifted into a sneer;he did nothing else to indicate that he knew he was under threat. Tala extended his arm out toward the seemingly oblivious Gamemaster and spoke again into the minds of his servants, `_**Attack.`**_

The four wolves launched themselves at their target with feral growls, aiming their long, slanted incisors at the Gamemaster's throat;but in the split-second before they made contact, their target sidestepped out of the way and grinned, holding out a gloved hand to direct his own servants. The five lions stepped between him and his attackers, baring their teeth in fierce roars and daring the wolves to come nearer.

Tala's servants were canines after his won heart;they didn't even hesitate to the lions' challenge, bounding forward and slashing their claws into their opponents' eyes. The lions fought back ferociously at the Gamemaster's directions against the white wolves, and even being outnumbered, managed to hold their own.

* * *

~_Why am I just standing here again?~_Sasuke asked himself, puzzled.

He turned on his heel to leave, but the second he moved, the doors in front of him slammed shut and didn't budge when he tried to open them. ~_So much for that.~_he mentally sighed, throwing himself back against the door, crossing his arms over his chest and focusing his attention once again on the battle between the two enigmas.

There was no apparent winner because it was at a standstill. Tala's wolves and the Gamemaster's lions were both standing inert between their masters. Gazes locked on one another, the two opponents faced off, holding off their servants from attacking.

"Why are you doing this?"Tala questioned, an obvious frown crinkling his white forehead, "What could you possibly have to gain by bringing us all here and threatening us?And what is this game you keep mentioning?"

The Gamemaster let out a mirthless laugh.

"Unfortunately for you, Commander, I'm only going to answer two of those questions;and their answer is the same:the legendary prophecy of conquest and its game is why I'm doing this. It's why those two former establishment members had to die and Hiwatari had to be blamed for it-" "_It was you,"_Kai interrupted in a hiss, the emptiness of his voice contradicting his now blazing auburn eyes, "_**You **__framed me for those murders and forced me to have to go into hiding because of it," _

He raised his shamshir and made to launch himself at the utterly unfazed figure, but Itachi pulled him back forcefully. "_**No**_**, Hiwatari. Let Ivanov handle this for now,**"the older man told him in a sharp undertone. He waited until Kai had relaxed to release the grip he had on the bluenette's arm.

"And what is this ''prophecy of conquest'', then?"Tala demanded to know, instinctively closing his hand over the handle of the tanto knife he had hidden inside his armoured vest. "It details the people I need in order to obtain my ultimate goal;the manipulator,"he pointed at Kai, "The seeker,"he pointed at Blake, "The killer,"he pointed at Itachi, "The victim,"he pointed at Sasuke, "And the pawn,"he finished by pointing at Tala.

~_I've heard enough.~_the wolf declared to himself;and he rematerialized behind the Gamemaster, holding the tanto knife against his throat.

However, the second he managed to get them into that position, the Gamemaster and his servants vanished;but his parting words, sounding like they came from the walls themselves, echoed menacingly around the room: "_The seeker's friend was only the beginning. Before this game is over, many more lives will be destroyed;one by the hand of their own blood. Now, my players, the ultimate game of life and death has __**truly **__begun..."_


	6. Chapter 6:The Tormented

Title:Deception

Author:superhackaninja5

Rating:R

Summary:see chapter one

Warnings:see chapter one

Disclaimer:The main character, the plot and all the settings belong to me. Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade and Naruto belong to their creators. I also own Zyder, although he is now dead, unfortunately.

(" .."denotes character speaking

_~blah..blah~_denotes character thinking

_`blah..blah..`_denotes people speaking telepathically to each other

"**blah...blah****..**"other language }

HAHA two chapters in less than a month, I believe!I'm getting better at this.

So, yes, this is becoming quite the constant hobby for me because this story is just getting too good to leave alone for too long. And notes for this chapter include the following:the R rating is definitely starting to show up way more in this chapter and it will be _extremely _prominent in all of the chapters after this. The yaoi part of the warnings will start to show up as well starting in the next chapter, so be ready for that.

Recap, again purely for my own benefit;the Gamemaster brought all of the players to Trinity Church to tell them about his game. Zyder was killed in front of them and a fight ensued between the Gamemaster and Tala. During that fight, we saw some of Tala's latent powers and we will be seeing more of them in the chapters to come. Just before the wolves killed him, the Gamemaster vanished, but not without leaving his players with some eerie parting words;many more lives are going to be destroyed as the game continues and that game has now begun.

* * *

Chapter 6:The Tormented

**September 4**

**Time:07:02am**

The five men occupying the vacant room at the back of the old church wing, all in varied positions;one was Itachi, sitting in one of the chairs with his hands in his coat pockets and legs extended in front of him, crossed at the ankles;Kai stood behind him, leaning against the craggy wall, arms crossed over his chest and grey bangs veiling his closed eyes:his trademark pose.

Tala sat uneasily in the middle of the room, one leg over the other and white fingers massaging his temples with Blake and Sasuke sitting on the floor on opposite sides;he was the first to break the deathly silence they had been in for the last couple of hours; "So it looks we finally know who framed Kai for Bryan and Spencer's murder."

Itachi cast a swift glance in said bluenette's direction and faced Tala, "_Attempted _murder, actually;Petrov and Kuznetsov are alive," "_What?_"the wolf burst out furiously, abandoning his attempt at keeping his emotions back.

"About this prophecy of conquest,"Itachi turned to his younger brother, deliberately ignoring Tala's outrage, "Sasuke, you've been under the radar since the last time we saw each other;have _you_ ever heard of it?"

The younger Uchiha paused vaguely before answering, "Strangely, no. But I'm sure if it's as legendary as this ''Gamemaster'' character says, then you'll be able to find some record of it on the internet."

His older brother appeared to think about that for a moment before he nodded, "You may have something there, little brother,"He pulled out his titanium-encased laptop and switched it on.

`_You've been awfully quiet, Hiwatari. What's your take on all of this?`_he spoke into Kai's mind, watching the phoenix carefully out of the corner of his eye while he searched the internet for this ''prophecy of conquest''.

Said dual-haired enigma remained completely still, but a response came nevertheless;`_It doesn't matter. Just find that prophecy.`_ Suppressing a smirk, Itachi clicked a link on his screen and found himself on a Black Market trade site.

~_Figures it would be somewhere like that.~_he observed ruefully, scanning the webpage with a critical eye.

That was when he found what he was looking for;a footnote at the very bottom of the page describing some current notable products. It read:'_**the only known record of the legendary prophecy of conquest is located at our trade centre in the city of Secretum, New York.**_'

"So this _prophecy _came from the Black Market, then,"he commented aloud, though it still sounded like he was speaking more to himself than the others, "I think paying a visit to that trade centre is in order if we want to find out exactly what we're dealing with here,"

Tala clenched his white fist in his lap, "Who are you to be taking charge here?I am the only only one with the jurisdiction-" "In case you've forgotten, _Commander, _Hiwatari and I are not members of establishment any longer and Sasuke was never one to begin with, so you'll find that you _don't _have the jurisdiction to order anyone except Cameron around,"Itachi cut across him carelessly, staring down the younger man without much effort.

"I'm staying back, anyways,"Blake piped up determinedly. Tala looked taken aback,"Blade-" "_No, _Commander, this is not up for debate,"`Blade` growled,"I don't care _why _it was necessary for Jackal to die;all I care is that he did. And for that, this ''Gamemaster'' will pay,"He got to his feet and stalked off before Tala had a chance to argue.

"At any rate,,"Itachi spoke while Tala was still too stunned to object, "I think there are no other objections to me taking charge, are there?"

He looked over at the other two men occupying the room;anywhere but at the seething redhead. Kai didn't even offer a reaction, which Itachi took as a "no" and Sasuke just shrugged. "I'm used to it,"he mumbled nonchalantly.

The corners of Itachi's mouth just barely twitched in what was evidently amusement.

Tala gritted his teeth and fought down a snarl. "Fine,"he surrendered, "you're in charge, Uchiha;what do you propose we do?"Itachi cast a quick, sideways look at Kai before he replied. "I'm thinking some good, old-fashioned interrogation method should suffice,"he declared cockily with a barely perceptible nod from his brother.

* * *

**September 4**

**Time:22:45pm**

"_Don't move a muscle,_"

Ian froze as those four word were hissed into his ear by a voice colder and fluid as a glacier;and he almost instantly felt the muzzle of a gun being pressed against the back of his head. An arm coiled itself tightly around his neck, pulling him back against a steel-hard chest.

"Who a-are you? Wh-what do y-you want with me?"he stuttered out feebly, striving to remain still for fear of being shot. He heard the sound of the gun cocking. "_I think you know _**exactly **_what I want with you, Serpent,_"the voice said smoothly, increasing the pressure of the gun against Ian's head.

"Do you _always _have to be so dramatic, Falcon?"a second voice from somewhere to the serpent's left drawled, sounding bored. Ian swiveled his eyes in the direction of the voice and found its source;it was a man well over six feet tall, with long raven hair framing his porcelain white face and dressed in a pair of simple black pants and a red and black coat that was open at the collar, showing the ruby-red cross shining at his pale throat.

His eyes, though, were the most striking thing about him;red as blood and completely void of any semblance of emotion. This man terrified Ian even more than the voice that had threatened him;he looked like he could kill someone with his bare hands and not even bat an eyelid, this emphasized by the way he was leaning against the wall, legs crossed at the ankles and hands stuffed carelessly in the pockets of his coat.

He heard a humorless chuckle from behind him and the one wielding the gun to his head answered, "_It is, unfortunately, part of my nature, Weasel. How do _you _propose we handle this?"_

The raven-haired man, `Weasel`, turned those empty rubies on the shell-shocked prophecy-keeper, who was too immersed in his staring to register the alias `Weasel` being uttered.

"You, prophecy-keeper, you know why I'm here,"he said without emotion, eyes boring holes into Ian's quartz ones.

Struggling to maintain some vestige of his composure, the prophecy-keeper raised a lilac eyebrow, "Do I?"The man smirked dully,"I can see you're not going to give it up without being difficult," Then he shifted his razor-sharp gaze and addressed the man behind Ian, "Put away the gun, Falcon; I'll handle this,"

Ian felt the gun being lifted off of the back of his head and the black-haired man grabbed him by the chin. "_Look into my eyes, Ivan Papov," _he intoned coldly and that was exactly what Ian did;he couldn't resist that hypnotic voice. He also couldn't resist as the thorn-shaped pupils began to spin and morphed into three serrated blades arranged in a circle.

The longer he stared into those eyes, the harder it got to keep his grip on consciousness. And then, everything went black so fast, he didn't even have time to register the single word that slipped from the man's lips before he lost consciousness.

"_Tsukuyomi."_

* * *

When the prophecy-keeper came to, he found himself strung up across what looked like a doctor's examination table, only his wrists and ankles were bound to it by short leather straps.

~_Where am I?~_he wondered groggily, peering around the vacant, desolate ground around him. Everything was doused in livid shades of red, black or orange;and then, as if in answer to his question, the black-haired man appeared before him, surrounded by shadows and bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Grim Reaper in the dim light.

The man's dull, monotone voice echoed all over when he spoke,"You are now trapped inside Tsukuyomi, or the Nightmare Realm. Here I control everything,"he flipped out a jagged butterfly knife and Ian gasped as the blade was driven, point first, into his unprotected torso, "Space, body mass and even time. You cannot lift a finger to defend yourself, so I suggest you cooperate,"

Another knife was plunged into Ian's chest and he shuddered. "What do you want?"he burst out, desperately trying not to scream as more and more knives pierced his skin at the same time.

"I want you to tell me about this prophecy of conquest,"his tormentor declared, eyes flashing under the lack of light. Even more knives appeared, now, without being wielded, driving themselves into the serpent's body and he stifled a whimper. "I suggest you talk fast,"the raven-hair deadpanned, sounding unconcerned.

"It's a..thing..of..legend...and it..tells you..how to obtain..ultimate...power..,"Ian heaved a laboured breath. "What does it say, _exactly?_"`Weasel` demanded, his voice taking on a decidedly hard edge as the knives came faster and blood began to stain the prophecy-keeper's clothes from the various wounds. "I don't..know it word for word!"he wheezed, holding back an agonized groan with extreme difficulty.

The red-eyed man stared at him, those bloody orbs flashing dangerously in the dark, "Then I suggest you tell me where your record is," "Beneath... the front...desk,"his victim panted as his vision steadily began to blur, "Now..will...you..leave..me..alone?" The man appeared to consider it for a few minutes, "71 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds remaining,"

The last thing the man heard before disappearing was Ian's tortured scream.

* * *

"What do we do with him now?"Bryan asked distastefully, nudging the unconscious man with the toe of his sneaker as Itachi rummaged around underneath the sales desk.

Itachi didn't even bother to look up while he answered; "Leave him;he could be useful to us again later." Bryan shook his head almost regretfully, "Shame. Can I at least have a little fun with him before we leave?"

Finally, Itachi raised his head and he gave the falcon a dull look that gave him his answer. "You're no fun, Weasel," Itachi deigned not to dignify that with a response and instead, went back to searching for the prophecy.

After about fifteen minutes, he produced a furled, ancient-looking scroll that had multiple ink stains running through it. "You sure that's it?"Bryan quipped, arching a sceptical platinum eyebrow at the scroll. Itachi gave him another look and he rolled his eyes, "Okay, you got it. Let's go, then;this place weirds me out,"It was Itachi's turn to roll his eyes.

The two men disappeared.

* * *

**September 4**

**Time:23:15pm**

Itachi dropped the prophecy scroll onto Tala's desk and folded his arms across his chest. The redhead cocked an eyebrow at the ancient-looking roll of paper,"Is that it, then?" "That's the only record of what we're looking for,"the older man stated simply without looking at him.

Tala picked it up off his desk and began to unfurl the scroll, attempting not to show his immense trepidation."`_**The five most powerful entities**__,"_he started to read aloud once he had the scroll open in front of him, "`_**The phoenix, the wolf, the blade, the hawk and the weasel. To drain their power, one must die at the hand of another, so the others surrender their souls. The hawk must be betrayed by who he loves **__**most;to shadows and misery, one must play host. Within the five, only one can win in this game of life, death and pain,**_"

Silence filled Tala's office after he finished and there was a definite shift in the atmosphere. "Those five most powerful entities;we're them,"Sasuke declared, voicing what was on everyone's mind, "It's no coincidence that all of our aliases are transcribed there,"

Surprisingly, Kai was the first to agree with him; "There are no coincidences anymore;the five at that church last night are the ones described by that prophecy:the phoenix,"he pointed at himself, "The commander is the wolf, Cameron is the blade, Itachi is the weasel, which leaves his brother as the hawk,"

"And how would you know that, _Hiwatari_?"Tala demanded acidly. The suspicion in his voice didn't go unnoticed by its target and the phoenix smirked. "Your distrust of me really is insulting, Commander;I didn't spend five years in the establishment without knowing how its code name system works,"he retorted smoothly, auburn eyes glittering enigmatically.

Unnerved, Tala backed down and instead addressed Itachi, "So what exactly are we planning to do now that we know why this ''Gamemaster'' character is after us?" The elder Uchiha didn't reply immediately, but when he did, his voice was uncharacteristically serious; "It looks like we have no other choice;we're playing this game, whether we like it or not,"

There was a deafening pause that ended with a door slamming shut. And when everyone looked 'round, Kai was gone.

* * *

Wind blew Kai's slate bangs into his eyes as they stared emotionlessly out at the barren streets below him. He was about to lean further over the balcony when a white, ungloved hand clamped down on his arm and pulled him back. "I wouldn't do that if I were you;you might fall off"a quiet, accented voice told him coolly.

Kai didn't have to turn around to know who that voice belonged to, "I wouldn't think you'd care...Commander," "I don't,"Tala defended feebly, but Kai heard the slight tremor in his voice that suggested otherwise and he suppressed a laugh.

"So why'd you walk out on us?"Tala questioned, attempting to change subjects. Kai's eyelids fell shut as he balanced all of his weight on his arms, stretched out over the railing and he didn't answer.

He sensed the attack coming before it made contact and reacted without thinking;when he opened his eyelids, Tala was lying across the floor with his boot pressed flat against his chest.

"_Don't think you can treat me like one of your pathetic underlings anymore, _Commander,"he hissed coldly, bending down so that his lips were level with Tala's ear, "_I no longer belong to the establishment and you no longer have the authority to force answers out of me. I suggest you remember that,"_

With that, Kai turned and closed his eyes again as if nothing had happened.

Thoroughly shaken, Tala pulled himself to his feet and, giving Kai a cursory glance, he turned on his heel to leave, not wanting to risk being incapacitated by his former friend.

But it was when he was about halfway back inside that Kai finally gave him a response, "_Abiding by someone who framed me for the murder of a friend is _**not **_what's going to happen here. It will _**never **_happen,"_

* * *

**September 4**

**Time:23:00pm**

_CRASH_

"_**Proklinat**_[1],"Spencer snarled in Russian, clutching at his bleeding side as he slid to the ground with a pained groan. The growling echoed in his ears as the creatures emitting it came closer, no doubt preparing for another assault.

"_Such vulgar language, Whale,_"a sinuous voice tutted reprovingly into his ear;but the owner of the voice was nowhere to be seen. "If you don't tell me what you want, I'll fucking gut your friends here,"the blonde growled, every word oozing venom as he struggled to rip the hunting rifle from the harness on his back.

He managed to get the gun in his hand and cock it, aiming it at the three lions steadily advancing toward him, but then, the wound in his side exploded with pain, causing him to drop the rifle and collapse.

"_Empty threat, Petrov. But I will respect your _**dying **_wish and tell you what I want:I want your friends, Hiwatari, Uchiha and Ivanov. They all owe me a debt that is going to be settled very soon,"_

A knife came down and sliced effortlessly across Spencer's exposed throat. He pressed his hand and hacked out a series of coughs and his hand came away red.

"_Tell Satan that the lion rider sent you,"_were the last words Spencer heard before everything went red.

* * *

**September 4**

**Time:23:34pm**

Kai's phone rang in his pocket and after checking the caller ID, he flipped it open and pressed it to his ear; "_**Da**_, Falcon, what is it?"

"_Kai, I think you and Uchiha ought to get your asses back here;there's something I think you need to see,"_was all the response he got before the line went dead. Kai snapped his phone shut and jammed it back into his coat pocket before walking through the sliding glass door that led to the balcony and headed back for Tala's office.

He opened the door and entered the room without a sound, like a ghost. "_Weasel,"_he said lowly, not even bothering to open his eyes, "_Falcon needs us back at base," _Itachi didn't answer, instead looking at Sasuke, "I know you're freelance, Sasuke, but since this ''game'' involves you, are you planning to stick around?"

The hawk gave his brother the barest semblance of a crooked grin, "You know me, brother;I hate to miss the interesting stuff," "Right, then you're coming with us,"Itachi decided, beckoning Sasuke to follow him and Kai out of the door.

"I'm coming, too,"Tala piped up shortly, getting to his feet with his jaw set, picking his car keys up off his desk. Itachi's blood-red eyes lasered in on him as he stepped through the open door. "You can't;our underground complex can only be reached by shadow travel, an ability _you _don't happen to have, Wolf,"he stated matter-of-factly and he and Kai exited the office. "Then I'll just have to hitch a ride with one of you,"Tala declared, hurtling toward the two men and latching onto Itachi's arm just before they vanished.

* * *

**September 4**

**Time:23:40pm**

"I see you brought a hanger-on,"the Chinese man greeted Kai and Itachi when they arrived at the complex, golden slits narrowed at the redhead standing on Itachi's left, "Tala Ivanov, I presume? Well, you can stay;this is something you should see, too,"

He turned around and began to lead them through the underground complex's entryway. Kai sidled up beside him and spoke into his mind. `_What's happened, Tiger?` _Ray didn't look at him, keeping his eyes fixated ahead. `_This is something you need to see in person, Phoenix,_`he informed his friend solemnly, pressing his lips together.

"_Where's Falcon?"_Kai questioned aloud in low Russian. "_He couldn't handle it,_"Ray replied in an undertone, just slightly quickening his pace, "_I think you'll understand why in a minute,"_He took the three arrivals down two flights of stairs and the darkest corridor any of them had ever seen before he finally stopped in front of a tall, dark blue door.

Reaching into his back pocket, Ray pulled out a thin silver key and inserted it into the door, unlocking it. "I'd advise you to brace yourselves because this really isn't pretty,"he told his companions out of the corner of his mouth before inhaling deeply and pushing the door open to reveal the horror within.

Tala felt bile rise in the back of his throat when they entered the room. Because in the floor was what was clearly a heart.

Scratch marks littered the wallas and a blonde figure, completely gored in the chest and stomach, lay frozen stiff with blood pooling all around him from every place possible in the centre of the room.

And written on the decimated wall above him, in dripping red letter were seven words:

'**IN THE END, ONLY ONE CAN SURVIVE**'

"Spencer,"Tala whispered, recognizing the figure lying prone in front of his feet. His knees hit the floor as he fought to keep his composure;but he knew he was failing miserably and gave up, letting tears begin to leak out of the corners of his amethyst eyes.

Itachi forced his lips to stay tightly compressed as he walked over to Spencer's closet, pulled out a white sheet and dragged it carefully over the body of his deceased friend. Kai put his arm around Ray and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly, letting the neko-jin lean on him for support.

Sasuke's red eyes scanned the writing on the wall and he hung his head;but he couldn't stay silent. "The prophecy didn't lie,"he spoke in a quiet voice, his gaze focused on the bloodstained marble beneath his feet, "This isn't just a game;it's life or death. And considering what's happened so far, I'm not sure which is worse,"

* * *

**September 5**

**Time:24:00am**

"We all know the ''Gamemaster'' tried to kill Bryan and Spencer once before, and now he's succeeded in killing Spencer," Itachi stated soberly from the centre of the candlelit room.

The five players stood in front of the stone altar;Ray watching from the foremost pew with a blank expression. "He calls it a game, but I think it's sick,"Tala observed scathingly with fire in his violet eyes.

Itachi gave him a placid look before continuing, candles eerily illuminating his bloodless face. "Game or not, we're in this now until the end. We don't have a choice, because more people will die,"he declared, watching Kai carefully out of the corner of his eye, "At least, if we play his game, we'll have a chance to stop it. So I'm not running away. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to play,"

"The Gamemaster refers to you as the killer and me as the victim. That means eventually we might have to kill each other, Itachi. Are you prepared to take that chance?"Sasuke asked seriously, the twin sharingan locked on one another, unwavering. "Are you?"Itachi shot back quietly, his tone sporting a dangerous undercurrent as he met his younger brother's gaze without blinking,When Sasuke didn't answer, Itachi hid a smirk.

Kai spoke up then, his voice so soft, it could've been part of the flickering flames surrounding him, "Uchiha's right. We don't have a choice in the matter any longer. But the choice is simple;in order to beat the Gamemaster, I'm going to play his game,"

As usual, no one really understood what he said, except for Ray and Itachi. `_You're going to be killed, Phoenix,` _Ray's warning voice came unbidden into his mind, but he deliberately ignored it. He'd been dead before.

"I'm playing, too,"

Tala turned to Blake with a disapproving glare, but Blake's tone brooked no argument; "It's the only way I'll be able to get my revenge for Zyder's murder," The commander sighed heavily, clenching his fists by his sides and digging his nails into his palms in order to stay calm.

"I'm already in this with both feet, whether I want to be or not, so I might as well fully commit,"he shrugged offhandedly, "I'm just the pawn, anyways;I'm playing this game as well,"

The younger Uchiha dropped himself into the pew behind him and slung one of his legs over the other casually before making his own statement; "I don't really fancy going up against Itachi in anything, but I guess I don't really have a choice now;so I'm playing, too,"

Kai gave Itachi a barely noticeable nod without looking at him and the older man drew his trademark butterfly knife from the side of his boot and tossed it to Kai.

"What are you two doing?"Tala wondered, eyeing the butterfly knife in Kai's gloved hands apprehensively.

Itachi answered for both of them while rolling the sleeves of his trenchcoat up pale, wiry arms. "We're making what's known as a ''Blood Vow'';a sort of binding promise so we can't back out of this in the future when we get in too far, no matter how much we may want to,"he explained truthfully, his tone completely void of emotion, "The rest of you don't have to do it, but Kai, Sasuke and I are going to. We made a decision,"

Tala watched Kai push his own sleeves up past his elbows, revealing those entrancing, swirling flames circling his muscular arm, for several seconds before he managed to speak again, "No, I'm making it, too."

"I'm promising to avenge Zyder, not play this game,"Blake said harshly, "But I'll make the vow as well," Itachi nodded, "Right then. Kai?'

The bluenette flexed the jagged knife and languidly came to stand at the center behind the altar. "Show them what to do,"Itachi told him and he nodded, extending his exposed arm on top of the altar, facing upward.

Tala couldn't help but stare at the white arm adorned with crimson flames as Kai raised the point of the knife to it. He pressed the point to the vein beneath his wrist and hissed under his breath, "_**I, the phoenix, make this vow;to see through and play this game until the end or die by the fire of a thousand hells.**_"

The knife pierced his skin and Tala was absolutely transfixed by the line running down his arm Because instead of red, Kai's blood was a colour to rival that of his eyes, like liquid fire. And when it spilled out of his punctured vein, the air was filled with the distinct scent of sulfur, like something was burning.

As soon as the blood appeared, a tongue of flame leaped from the end of the knife and twisted around the cut, sealing it and leaving behind a raw, flame-shaped scar.

Kai passed the knife to Itachi and pulled his sleeve down,causing Tala to finally tear his eyes away from his arm. When they passed each other as Kai took his previous place at the rear of the group, Kai gave him a knowing look.

`_I know what you saw, Commander.`_Tala shivered at hearing Kai's slightly mocking declaration fill his head as the phoenix disappeared behind him, pale eyelids slipping shut over his auburn eyes.

"Is it necessary to speak Russian?"Sasuke asked his older brother curiously, raising a dark blue eyebrow fractionally. "It _is _a Russian custom, but no, you don't have to speak Russian to make the vow,"Itachi assured him uncaringly, rolling his eyes.

"I'll go next,"Tala said confidently, stepping towards the altar, pulling off the fingerless glove from his right hand as he did so. "Hey, Kon, how'd you like to bind the Commander?"

The redhead saw the Chinese man give Itachi a vindictive grin, showing his canines. "It'd be my pleasure,"he said slyly, golden slits flashing dangerously under the lack of light. Ray rose gracefully from the pew he was sitting in and started toward the altar, pupils slitting even further as Itachi handed him the knife without comment. `_Don't hurt him __**too **__badly, Tiger.`_Well, no audible comment.

`_Don't worry, Weasel.`_Ray reassured him. `_I wasn't planning on it.` _He faced Tala on the opposite side of the altar and spun the knife between his two fingers so it was pointing at the Commander. "Give me your arm, _Commander,_" he all but sneered, fighting to suppress a smirk.

Warily, Tala held out his left arm and Ray took hold of it. "Motherfu-"he swore mutinously when he felt what seemed like a thousand tiny needles digging into his wrist.

Flashing Itachi an innocent grin, Ray tightened his grip on the prostrate limb and twisted it around like a toy until it was facing up again,causing Tala to start cursing in Russian.

`_You don't know what your damn establishment has condemned Phoenix to for the last three years;you deserve everything I'm doing to you and more.` _he spat venomously into Tala's mind, sending shivers down the redhead's spine. Ray held the knife to the vein in his wrist and pushed it in, puncturing the skin so it rested against the bone. `_Make your vow.`_

Gritting his teeth against the immense pain he was currently experiencing, Tala cleared his throat and vowed in a strained whisper, "_**I, the wolf, make this vow;to stay in this game until the end or may my blood freeze to subzero**_,"

He worked up the courage to look at his wrist and couldn't restrain himself from gasping,whether in pain or shock, he didn't know; most likely both.

Spilling out of the ruptured vein was what looked like melted ice, and like with Kai, fire twisted around it, eviscerating the stream of blood and leaving behind a scar, only Tala's was the shape of a wolf's fang.

Ray released his arm with an ugly glance and stepped off of the platform, handing Itachi the knife as he did so. "_Kai, I really hope you know what you're doing,"_he muttered to himself as he sat back down, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back with his eyes closed.

`_Sasuke, it's your job to bind me.`_Itachi told his younger brother firmly, wordlessly placing the knife into his hands.

The two Uchiha's stood on either side of the altar, Sasuke holding Itachi's arm at the elbow.

`_You know, you never answered my question, Itachi.`_The corners of Itachi's mouth twitched vaguely, `_I know. You'll get your answer sometime.`_

Locating the vein in his brother's wrist, he poised the tip of the knife just above the thin blue line carefully. Inhaling deeply, Itachi made his voice in a voice so low that Sasuke had to strain to hear it, "_**I, the weasel, vow to stay in the game and abide by its rules, no matter the cost**_,"~_Even if it means killing the only family I have left.~_he added in his head just before Sasuke made the incision and crimson fluid curled around his arm, creating a red cross in the center of his arm, matching the one carved into his white throat.

Sasuke gave Itachi his knife back and held out his own arm from the ripped sleeve of his black Harley Davidson jacket.

When the cold metal blade made contact with his bare skin, he voiced the words in his head aloud, in a totally unfamiliar language, "_**I, the hawk, vow to play this game;even if it means losing my life**_."

He didn't blink when blood steadily began seeped out of his arm and fire seeped _into _it, closing the wound and turning it into a scar in the shape of a hawk's wing.

"Last vow standing, Cameron,"Itachi commented tonelessly, tossing the dark-skinned man his knife and joining his brother and Kai at the side, "And I'd like that knife back afterward, if you don't mind,"

Blake stood over the now red-dotted altar, alone and, pressing the jagged reddened knife to his exposed, brown-skinned arm, he made the final vow of the night.

"I, the blade, vow to avenge the death of Zyder Hale, my friend and partner,"~_And lover.~_he finished regretfully in his head. And he plunged the knife into his flesh and the symbol of a sword carved itself into his arm.

Rolling his sleeve back down, he threw Itachi his knife and walked out of the church's front doors.

* * *

'_**The five make their vow to never surrender;**_

_**The blade has sworn his revenge.**_

_**The game has begun, the gong has been struck;**_

_**Only one chance, only one play;**_

_**Who will win, and who will pay?**_'

* * *

[1]_Proklinat _is Russian for "damn" or "damn it".


	7. Chapter 7:The Manipulator

Title:Deception

Author:superhackaninja5

Rating:R

Summary:see chapter one

Warnings:see chapter one

Disclaimer:The main character, the plot and all the settings belong to me. Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade and Naruto belong to their creators. I also own Zyder, although he is now dead, unfortunately. And I miss ITACHI!Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.

(" .."denotes character speaking

_~blah..blah~_denotes character thinking

_`blah..blah..`_denotes people speaking telepathically to each other

"**blah...blah..**"other language }

Time for chapter 7!I think this is the best chapter so far because so much happens!And it's an in-depth focus on my second-favourite anime character ever;Kai!I love him. And here is the yaoi rating showing up with a big in-your-face inception. I am proud of this chapter. Also some major violence toward various members of the press(haha the press), so if I'm harming anyone you really like, feel free to just skip over those parts.

Should I do a recap?Well; when we last met, the players discovered why the Gamemaster is after them. Spencer was killed and more deaths were promised, so the players swore to keep on playing the game, so they could save any other victims. But some questions remain;is there more to the Gamemaster's reasons for this game?What is transpiring between Kai and Tala?And above all, who else will fail to survive the Gamemaster's murderous crusade?

* * *

Chapter 7:The Manipulator

_I will not bow_

_I will not break_

_I will shut the world away_

_I will not fall_

_I will not fade_

_I will take your breath away_

-I Will Not Bow by Breaking Benjamin

**November 10**

**13 years ago, 1988{Balcov Abbey}**

_I was thrown roughly to the ground at my grandfather's feet, countless bruises and welts bleeding through my torn dark blue t-shirt._

_I could see my grandfather's livid eyes bearing down on me as the cause of all my innumerable injuries stepped forward,an ugly look on his face and the jagged whip that given me all these scars in his gloved left hand._

"_**What is the meaning of this, Boris?**"my grandfather asked softly, glowering and deliberately looking anywhere but at me._

_Boris grabbed a handful of my dual-toned hair and lifted me brutally off of the ground._

"_**Your precious grandson has been destroying my labs again, Lord Voltaire**,"he informed the older man, obviously seething._

_I bit back a cry of pain as Boris' leather gloves scraped against the raw cuts on my bared back._

_My grandfather's grey eyes narrowed, "**He still refuses to stop, then?**"_

_When Boris nodded, my grandfather heaved an exasperated sigh and hauled me out of his subordinate's grip._

"_Stand up, grandson,"he commanded harshly, switching languages into English._

_I raised my head and stared the man who I hated defiantly in the eyes._

"_**Make me**,"I hissed, auburn eyes simmering beneath my slate bangs._

_Of course, the bastard had the nerve to be furious with my lack of submission._

"_You insubordinate little fool! I will make you wish you were never born!"Boris vowed in a snarl._

_My last glimpse was of my grandfather standing idly by as Boris raged at me. The whip came down and..._

_The scene changed._

_I was entirely surrounded by shadows._

_The air was permeated eerily by silence._

_Then, suddenly, it was filled with screams of agony._

_I whipped wildly around to try and find the source of the screams, but saw nothing still, nothing but blackness;it was almost suffocating._

_Cutting through the screams, out of the darkness, was another, even more unpleasantly familiar voice and it spoke:_

_ "`**The manipulator will set the pawn,**_

_**Incur his wrath and vengeance upon**_

_**The ones he loves, the ones he knows.**_

_**And together, bear souls to deadly foes**,`"_

* * *

**September 7**

**06:23am**

Kai's pale eyelids snapped open to the monochromatic ceiling above his head and he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Bad dream, Kai?"Ray's voice asked sympathetically from somewhere to his right.

Kai tilted his head to the side and found the Chinese man standing next to his bed, holding out a black mug to him.

"It's water,"Ray informed him when he raised a querying eyebrow at the mug.

The bluenette accepted with a nod of thanks and drank from it slowly.

"So, bad dream, then?"Ray repeated his earlier statement when Kai had set the cup down on his nightstand, sitting on the edge of Kai's bed.

"Hn, yeah,"Kai admitted grudgingly, running an uncomfortable hand through his slate locks.

"Well, don't feel bad;we've all been having them since Spencer,"his friend said reassuringly, patting him on the shoulder and adding under his breath, "Some of us more so than others,"

Silently, Kai shrugged off Ray's hand and leaned over the other side of his bed to pull his black shirt back over his head before pushing off his covers and coming to sit next to Ray.

"You still don't know why this 'Gamemaster' is after you and the others, do you?"the neko-jin questioned, clearly struggling to keep his voice even.

"He says it's all because of this 'prophecy of conquest', but I don't believe that that's the _only _reason,"Kai replied darkly, frowning, "It has to go deeper than that,"

"You mean, like he has a grudge against the 'players', or something?"Ray quipped curiously, arching an ebony eyebrow.

Kai, characteristically, didn't reply, preferring to pick up his glass of water again and take another soundless drink out of it.

With a barely audible sigh, Ray got to his feet and started to leave, but Kai's smooth Russian accent stopped him at the door.

"Ray,"

The tiger stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder back at Kai with one hand in the pocket of his loose dark jeans,

Kai looked him dead in his gold eyes and said lowly, "_**You know to be prepared for anything**__,"_

Ray smiled slightly, showing his pointed white fangs_, "_**Of course**_," _With that, he turned on his heel and left Kai's room without a backward glance.

Setting his now empty cup back on top of his nightstand, Kai stood up and went over to the open window, staring out at the grey, sunless morning sky.

His eyes slid closed seemingly of their own accord and he sighed.

_Now _things were getting far more complicated than they had ever been before.

That dream he'd had was no random construction of his twisted mind;it had been a real event from his past in that place.

Balcov Abbey.

Even just the name sent tremors running through his entire body.

Unless you had grown there, you couldn't even begin to fathom the pain and horror that was living in that place.

He shook his head furiously, trying in vain to rid himself of all the unpleasant memories clamouring to surface;he had promised himself never to think of the Abbey again;no matter how many nightmares he had about it. Or how many questions he was asked.

As if solely to interrupt his thoughts, his phone went off from his nightstand, breaking his subdued stupor with a distinct buzz.

When he picked it up and checked the caller ID, a rare frown confusion furrowed his brow;it read "Unknown Caller".

No one had his number except the people involved in Itachi's underground operation.

Sweeping back his dark curtains and turning away from the ajar window, he flipped his phone and held it up to his ear, "_**Chto**_[1]?Who is this?"

"_**Privet**_[2]_**, Master Hiwatari. I hope you know that dream you had was no coincidental concurrence. Your twisted past is going to be playing a part in this game as well**,"_

"_**Is that supposed to worry me**?"_Kai feigned apathy, but his blood was pounding ruthlessly in his ears as he said this and, inwardly, he was reeling.

The voice on the other end of the end chuckled.

"_**Only if you're concerned about the ones you call your friends. I told you, before this game is over, more people will die. Hale was the first casualty, Petrov was the second. Perhaps I'll finish what I started three years ago and make Kuznetsov the third. Dosvidanya, drugu**_[3],"

And the line went dead.

Swearing, Kai snapped his phone shut with a lot more force than necessary, squeezing it tightly in his shaking fist.

It killed him to admit it, but he was officially losing all control of his situation.

Ever since this 'game' had taken effect, he had been falling further and further behind things and now he was, for the first in a very long time, utterly helpless.

Steeling himself to get a grip, he re-opened his phone's lid and dialled a number.

"_**Chto**, **Hiwatari**?"_the cool monotone of Itachi answered in a bored tone when the rings ended.

"_**Where are you**?"_Kai asked without preamble, stuffing his still-trembling unoccupied hand deep in the pocket of his sweatpants. "_**At base. Why**?"_

"_**Don't move. You and I need to talk**,"_Kai snapped his phone closed again and walked over to his closet to get dressed.

* * *

**September 7**

**07:00am**

"So what, exactly, is this about, Hiwatari?"Itachi asked the bluenette standing in front of him, raising one of his raven-black eyebrows sceptically.

Kai finally opened his eyes and locked his fiery gaze onto Itachi's blood-red orbs, effortlessly and completely capturing his attention.

"It's about this 'game' taking things too far."

Itachi's other eyebrow rose to join the first.

"And what makes you say that?"

Kai inhaled through his nose;something he did when he was about to say more than his usual limited speech, "Get real, Uchiha. We were the city's police force as members of the establishment and we didn't condone the slaughter of others. And I don't know about you, but I still don't, unless it's completely unavoidable,"

"I never knew you were so championing of morality, "Itachi commented dryly, tone heavy with irony.

The phoenix tossed him a withering look before closing his eyes again, simply deigning not to reply.

Itachi scrutinized Kai carefully out of the corner of his eyes;something about him wasn't right. Then it came to him; "He threatened someone else, didn't he?Someone you actually care about?"

When Kai remained silent, Itachi's suspicion was confirmed and he refused to relent, `_Who was it, Hiwatari?Who did the Gamemaster threaten?`_

The silence billowed out over the two men until Kai finally decided to respond, uttering only a single word.

`_Falcon.`_

The weasel had to pause a minute after that to make sure he had heard right.

Then, when he was satisfied that he was hearing correctly, he sighed and whispered, "You know this is all in the name of his damned 'game', right? We _are _trying to stop these deaths from happening, Hiwatari."

Kai stayed motionless and silent as a statue, but his smooth, Russian-accented voice resonated coldly in Itachi's mind, `_Well, try harder.`_

Their stare-down following that declaration was interrupted by the door to Itachi's office banging open.

Sasuke entered, stowing a jagged knife in his belt as he passed through the doorway.

"I think, Itachi, that there's something you need to handle in the entrance hall,"he spoke directly to his brother, not even bothering to acknowledge Kai's presence.

The elder Uchiha's crimson gaze fell on him at those words and his twin eyebrows rose again in query. "I happen to be in the middle of something at the moment, Sasuke,"

Sasuke shot a cursory glance in the direction of the solitary, dual-haired figure standing in the corner before turning back to Itachi, "I was under the impression that the two of you were finished,"

Itachi's eyes focused back on Kai,Are _we done here, Hiwatari?`_

Said dual-haired man's response came in the form of another single word.

`_Whatever.`_

Itachi stopped himself from rolling his eyes with an enormous effort, turning to Sasuke again and rising out of his chair.

"It appears you were correct, then, "he said without emotion, flicking his two purple-tipped fingers in front of him, "Lead the way,"

The hawk nodded and turned back out of the door, heading for the compound's entrance hall.

Silently, and unnoticed by both Uchihas, Kai trailed deliberately behind them down the dim corridor, keeping his eyes closed as he did so.

Leaning against the wall, legs crossed at the ankles, when the three men arrived, was a familiar redhead they all knew; Tala, his Devil's horns shadowing his fathomless amethysts, clearly waiting for them.

"How did you get here, Ivanov?"were Itachi's first words when they came face-to-face.

"What, not even a 'hello'?I thought you were above hostility, Uchiha,"the wolf quipped dully, keeping his bloodless face carefully blank as he folded his bare arms across a black-clad chest.

"I don't appreciate it when people I don't trust _break in_ to my complex,"Itachi responded in a flat tone, staring holes into Tala's perfectly expressionless face.

"Well, that's a damn shame, because I'm here for answers and I'm not leaving until I get the ones I'm looking for,"Tala retorted, meeting Itachi's subtle glare determinedly.

"You might as well give him what he wants, Uchiha,"

Everyone's attention was drawn, for the first time since he had arrived there, to Kai and his lifeless tone.

Itachi just looked wordlessly at him for about a minute. Then he smiled humorlessly.

"Why don't _you _answer his questions, then, Hiwatari?I have other matters I need to attend to,"He waved a hand and both him and his brother disappeared down the corridor, leaving Kai and Tala alone in the badly lit hall.

Kai exhaled exaggeratedly, still with his ivory eyelids tightly closed.

~ _God, I hate it when he does that.~_He thought, thoroughly irritated. But he beckoned Tala to follow him nevertheless and made a beeline for his office.

Once they were inside, Kai turned to face the redhead and his eyelids finally slid open, revealing those simmering eyes that seemed to stare straight through to Tala's very core."Close the door behind you,"he ordered bluntly.

Tala obeyed, feeling horribly as if he was trapping himself as he did so.

When the door clicked shut, Kai spoke again, this time holding Tala's gaze, seemingly without effort, "Here's how this is going to work;you can ask me whatever you like and I will answer you on two listen carefully, because I don't like to repeat myself and don't relay any of this to your friends at the establishment, no matter what. Do I make myself clear?"

The second their eyes met, Tala felt weak in the knees, like he was being burned by those fiery depths and he just barely managed to stutter out his reply, "Yes,"

Kai seated himself in the high-backed black chair behind his desk and leaned back, fluidly lifting one of his legs over the other before refocusing on Tala, "So. Ask away, Commander,"

Shaking himself out of his slight daze, Tala forcefully tore his eyes away from Kai's and pushed himself to speak.

"I want to know what happened on the night when you three went missing and Bryan and Spencer were almost killed,"

"We witnessed the aftermath of the attempted murder. I knew I was going to be a prime suspect because of the weapon, so I decided to disappear. Kaiba and Uchiha were implicated, so they came with me. Then, about half a year later, Uchiha set up this operation,"

Kai said all of this in a calm, detached voice, like it truly didn't matter him at all, sitting back with his arms crossed over his chest.

His companion arched a single crimson eyebrow, "How, exactly, were Kaiba and Uchiha implicated?"he asked, voice heavily laden with scepticism.

"_That _is something I can't tell you,"

"And why the hell not?"Tala burst out, his frustration getting the better of him and causing him to lose what little composure he had managed to hold onto.

When Kai didn't answer, Tala cracked completely.

"This is just damn ridiculous, Hiwatari!"he growled furiously, slamming his fist into the wall.

"I've been kept in the dark about these things for almost three whole years, trying without rest to find you and the others, thinking two of my best friends were dead. And I find that not only are they alive, but the three people who I thought were missing are with them as well. I see Spencer utterly gored and one of my operatives get his neck snapped. We find out that we're part of some fucked-up game conducted by a sadistic bastard who's after all our blood for God knows what reason. And now you won't even give me a few simple answers?I mean, for fuck's sake, I thought we were supposed to be friends, but you're treating me like I'm the enemy!"

His voice fractured on that last sentence before he threw his arms up in surrender, throat raw from yelling.

The redhead took a deep, slow breath to try and calm himself down and focused on Kai.

Throughout his entire rant, the bluenette had remained characteristically impassive, not interrupting and just sitting calmly in his chair with his eyes closed once again, leaving Tala in doubt as to whether he even been listening.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"he enquired quietly of the dual-haired teen, shuffling his feet awkwardly, like a guilty child.

Kai let out a hardly audible sigh and when he spoke, it was in a voice just barely above a whisper; "I'm not treating you like you're the enemy, Tala."

That simple statement made Tala want to snort, but Kai cut him off before he could do so, "I'm treating you the way I treat everyone else. These last three years have changed me; I'm not going to pretend like they haven't. We _were _friends. _Then._"

"But now?"Tala questioned uneasily, jamming his hands in his pockets to keep them from shaking.

Pale eyelids opened again and red and violet gazes locked.

"Now, it's up to you to decide whether or not you can still trust me,"Kai stated simply, embers flickering beneath his light bangs, before lapsing back into silence.

Tala dragged out a long, exaggerated breath.

"I'll try,"he declared softly, holding out a gloved hand to Kai over his desk, "That's all I can promise."

The corners of Kai's mouth twitched slightly as he clasped Tala's outstretched hand, looking the redhead straight in the eyes as the words he spoke then etched themselves permanently in Tala's mind: "_You wanted to know how Kaiba and Uchiha were implicated in that attempted murder. The truth is, all four of us were prime suspects,_"

* * *

**September 7**

**08:02am**

A little under an hour passed before Kai finally left his office again, looking uncharacteristically relaxed this time.

Tala followed shortly afterwards, toying with Kai's steel shamshir sword between two of his black-gloved fingers, and leaned back against the wall next to the silent bluenette.

"**I just have one more question**_,_"the redhead stated in an undertone, directing his violet orbs ahead of him instead of on his companion.

Though Kai gave no indication that he had heard, Tala continued anyways, still in that same quiet, yet determined voice; "**The night of the attempted murder;why didn't you come to me and tell me what happened**?"

"_**Would you have believed that I was innocent**__?"_Kai said lowly, keeping his voice guarded and auburn eyes shuttered.

Tala fell silent, unsure of what to say to that and Kai smirked slightly without amusement,"_**That's what I thought**__,_"

The wolf let out a deep breath through his nose, closing his own eyes briefly before turning them on Kai.

"**Look**," he began heatedly, trying desperately not to let his voice crack, "**It's not that I don't trust you. It's just, I don't know anything**_** about **_**you. You keep everyone at arm's length and that is most definitely coming back to bite you in the ass now**,"

When the bluenette remained apathetically motionless, Tala got frustrated.

"You see?"he exclaimed, reverting back to English abruptly, "You act like you're not even listening, like nothing fazes you and nothing matters, so how do you expect anyone to trust you?"

Kai finally opened his eyes and fixed Tala with a look so intense that the wolf faltered under it.

"Do you want to know _why_ I keep everyone at arm's length?"the phoenix spoke in English as well, tone soft and smooth, like fire, "Because, let me tell you, it's not for my own benefit. It's for theirs,"

Before Tala could reply, Kai took a slow breath and kept speaking, probably saying more in that instant than he ever had before in his life.

"You say you don't know anything about me, Tala?Well, let me tell you something about me, then;the last time I let myself get truly close to someone, they betrayed me. They tried to have me killed and sold out to the highest bidder for my past. And you know what I had to do then?I had to kill him. And this is what happened _after _Bryan and Spencer were almost killed. So you want to know why I'm like this?It's because I'm not looking forward to a repeat performance,"

Kai's speech left Tala dumbstruck, to say the least.

When Kai had run out of words, he had retreated back into himself, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head downwards so that his grey bangs veiled his eyes in addition to his eyelids.

Silence fell over the two like a deadweight as Kai's thoughts began to whirl.

He had spoken purely out of emotion, something he never thought he'd do again and he resolved never to do so again;he couldn't so flagrantly reveal that much of himself to _anyone._

"Kai?"Tala piped up tentatively, keeping his voice low and even as possible. Kai inhaled slowly through his knows and sighed, "What?"

"I guess the issue has become not if I can trust you, but if you can trust me, hm?"he commented without humour, "Because I _do _still want to be friends;but I can only do that if you let me in,"

After a second, Kai stepped in front of the redhead so that they were facing each other and there was something in Kai's amaranth orbs that Tala couldn't identify;it puzzled him enough that he didn't know how to react when Kai grabbed a handful of his fiery hair with one gloved hand and planted the other next to his head.

"I'll let you in, _Ivanov_, if you'll do something for me,"he breathed, voice taking on a vaguely husky quality as his smouldering eyes glowed in the dimness.

"Like what?"Tala quipped quietly, keeping himself utterly still, just in case any sudden movements provoked Kai into reacting violently.

Flawless lips curved into a slow smirk as Kai nudged his knee in between Tala's legs, effectively caging him in.

"Oh, I'm sure I can think of something,"the bluenette stated slyly before he leaned in and brushed their mouths together.

* * *

**September 7**

**07:56am**

Bryan knew he was being watched.

It had started out as a small prickling feeling at the back of his neck;now it had ramped up to fully-fledged, high-scale paranoia.

And the worst part was, he couldn't do anything about it because he didn't even know _who _he was being watched by. He strived to stay motionless, hand clamped tightly over the handle of the revolver hidden underneath his jacket.

All of a sudden, the power went out, leaving him in complete blackness.

"Who's there?"Bryan called out, Russian accent echoing out in the silence, "I know you're watching me,"

"_Do you, Kuznetsov?"_

There was a rapid rush of air and icy breath brushed past his ear, sending incessant shivers down his spine. A low growling accompanied those words, like that of an angry jungle cat.

He felt the press of cold steel against the front of his throat and the familiar needle-sharpness of a razor.

"Who are you?"Bryan snarled venomously, carefully tilting his head back to avoid the deadly blade.

The voice snickered.

"_It doesn't matter. Just as you don't matter. You, like your friend Petrov, are just a means for me to get even with Hiwatari,_"

Bryan could feel his blood boiling at that statement and he forgot all about the knife at his throat and lunged, clearly enraged.

"_**Ublyudok**_[4],"the livid falcon snapped, silver eyes hardening into a stormy grey behind his platinum bangs as he rammed his elbow into the man's sternum, using the moment of free fall to draw the gun clenched in his fist.

But before he had it fully out, it was knocked out of his grip to the floor. He made to pick it up, but his invisible assailant kicked it out of his reach, yanking both of his hands behind his back and trapping them together in an iron claw.

Bryan tried to break free, but it was like trying to bend a steel bar;it just couldn't be done.

"Why do you have it out for Kai?"the Russian demanded furiously, still trying vainly to get himself out of the total body lock he was in.

The razor's stinging press beneath his chin halted his struggles and that Siberian breath hissed into his ear again, even emptier than before,_"It happens to be a personal matter,"_"If that's the case, then why go after Spencer?"

Another snicker.

"_Because Hiwatari actually _cares _about you. Because I promised him the deaths of everyone he's ever met in exchange for what he's done to me,"_Bryan felt the point of the razor cut into his skin, _"And I never go back on my word,"_

He was spun roughly around and vivid crystal pools drowned out everything and were the last sight he saw before the ground rose rapidly to meet him.

A single word tumbled from his mouth before he passed out completely; "_Shit,"_

* * *

**September 7**

**08:12am**

Tala pulled back shortly once their lips touched, stunned speechless;the second he did so, Kai stepped away easily, releasing his hair and giving him space to breathe.

When the redhead had regained his bearings, he spoke slowly, "What...did you just do?"

"I would've thought it was obvious, Tala;I kissed you,"Kai replied calmly, brushing an errant slate lock of hair off of his face without looking at Tala.

The latter rolled his eyes at the bluenette's predictably fatalistic response and amended his statement harshly, "What I meant was, _why _did you just do that?"

Kai met his gaze firmly and he actually took a step back before he remembered that he was already backed against the wall.

"You told me you wanted to be my friend,"Kai specified, copper eyes gleaming suggestively, "But I'm interested in having you as a bit more than that, Tala,"

The wolf was just now beginning to pick up on the way Kai was saying his name, like it was some sort of a pet name or term of endearment;and he wasn't entirely sure he disliked it, either.

"What do you mean?"he asked unsteadily, feeling a slight foreboding about the answer.

Kai's smirk returned and he chuckled quietly in amusement, "I think you know _exactly _what I mean,"

The bluenette blurred and in a split-second, he was directly in front of Tala again, staring unfathomably down at him.

Tala pressed himself against the wall and closed his eyes against that burning gaze, unable to focus with those piercing eyes on him.

`_You can't deny that you want this just as much as I do, Tala.`_that silky Russian accent filled his head knowingly.

When Tala opened his eyes, Kai's hands were on either side of his head and those twin flaming embers were boring into him with that same look they'd held before Kai had kissed him. He couldn't identify it then, but now he recognized it completely:it was lust.

He could feel his skin heating up as Kai's stare intensified and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Why?"he repeated in a murmur, forcing himself not to tear his gaze away from those molten pyres.

He felt a gloved hand rub the back of his neck almost intimately and hot lips brushed the corner of his mouth as Kai answered huskily, "Don't pretend, _Commander_. I've kept an eye on you ever since the day we met;I know there's more to your intentions than simply wanting to be my friend. And _you_ know that you'll enjoy whatever it is I have in mind for us now."

"And what, pray tell, _do _you have in mind for us now?"Tala challenged unevenly, slightly breathless as the distance between Kai and himself steadily lessened.

The smirk curving those perfect lips grew."Hn. I'll let you take a guess,"And Kai pressed their bodies together, effortlessly capturing Tala's thin lips once again.

Tala had to grip Kai's shoulders tightly in order to keep himself from falling when their lips met.

He didn't respond to the kiss, but he didn't break it, either. This apparently made no difference to Kai, who seemed to enjoy his complete docility.

Tala felt a tongue trace its way around his lips and part them carelessly, exploring and sinking itself deep into his mouth, drawing an involuntary moan from the bottom of his throat.

The hand at his neck caressed the skin slowly, leaving it on fire as heat rose between them and Kai continued to practically devour his lips without rest.

"Stop,"he panted, pushing Kai away when he began to run out of air.

Kai obeyed, breaking their lips' contact, but otherwise not moving from his current position, letting one of his hands fall to his side, but keeping the other firmly planted next to Tala's head.

"_I told you you'd enjoy it,"_he breathed against the wolf's cheek, flicking his tongue out to taste the flushed skin and causing Tala to shudder slightly.

At that moment, both men heard the sound of someone clearing their throat pointedly.

Kai turned and found himself looking into Ray's suspicious golden slits."_**You know you're not supposed to be down here without permission, Tiger,**__" _

Tiger` didn't rise to the bait and instead said flatly, "**I've been given permission, Phoenix, because this is more important than whatever it is you're doing with Ivanov over there**,"

Kai arched one of his grey eyebrows smoothly, "_**Care to tell me**__**exactly **_**what **_**is so important, then**_?"

Ray inhaled deeply and tossed something to Kai, who caught it one-handed. The bluenette examined the object, looking up afterwards with his eyes narrowed dangerously and Ray answered his unspoken question baldly; "**Bryan's missing.**"

* * *

**September 7**

**13:11pm**

"_**This is my fault,**_"Kai growled in a mutinous undertone, slanted auburn eyes glaring at the ground beneath his feet.

"Kai,"Ray began placatingly, but the bluenette continued to talk as if he hadn't heard.

"_**The fucking 'Gamemaster' is going to kill Bryan because of **_**me**_**, because of something I did to him in the past that he wants revenge for,"**_

He actually seized handfuls of his midnight blue hair and pulled at them in his apparent disillusionment.

"Kai!"Ray yelled firmly over his muttering, closing his hand over the phoenix's shoulder and forcing him to sit, "**Calm **_**down**__,"_

Kai sighed as Ray removed his grip and he heaved a drawn-out breath before finally relaxing, closing his eyes and leaning forwards, head tilted downwards and arms resting on his black-clad thighs.

When Ray was sure that his friend was in a stable state, he spoke again, keeping his voice carefully low this time; "**Do you know what it is you did to him?**"

"_**Nyet**_[5],"Kai was back to his usual monosyllabic self.

"**Well, obviously it's not just you**,"Ray reasoned, falsely placid, tucking a strand of ebony hair behind his pointed ear, "**He must have it in for all five of you, to be involving you in his sick game. That prophecy is more likely than not just a pretext for the real reason he's going after you**,"

"_**Hn**__,"_

The Chinese rolled his eyes at the predictably non-committal response, but kept on going anyways; "**The same is probably said for the reason why he's targeting all of our friends;why he killed Spencer and that establishment operative,**"

"_**He hit the jackpot by killing Spencer**__,"_Kai admitted in a metronomic tone, "_**That death affected three of use, not just me,**__"_

"**Not to mention the outsiders, Bryan and I,**"Ray commented sullenly, golden slits clouding over slightly.

He felt Kai's gloved hand on his back, joined almost instantly by the bluenette's silky baritone, "_**You're not an outsider, Ray,**__"_

Ray just barely managed to suppress a snort.

"**This time, Kai, I am,**"he breathed, voice dangerously quiet, "**Even the one who put you through all that hell is more involved in all this than I am**,"

Kai looked down at those words, letting his hand slide back to his side at the abrupt topic change.

Cat-like slits watched Kai carefully for his reaction and it was exactly the one Ray was expecting.

"Don't deny it, Kai. I _saw _what the two of you were doing against that wall,"he hissed scathingly in English, daring Kai to debunk his claims.

Kai, of course, did exactly the opposite;he merely looked evenly up into Ray's disapproving scowl and shrugged effortlessly.

"So what do you want to me tell you, Ray? I told you the real reason why I wanted to get to Tala before;why I wanted to get under his skin and force him to find us, instead of his half-assed operative, Cameron,"

"I never thought you were serious about being attracted to-to _that person_!"Ray exclaimed angrily, baring his fangs and flexing his claws in clear agitation;when Kai opened his mouth to speak again, Ray cut him off in a livid hiss; "And before you say a word, this had nothing to do with you being gay. I have no problem with it being a guy, i have a problem with it being _him_,"

"_And why, pray tell, is that, _Kon?"

The tiger's anger propelled him to his feet, claws lashing out unconsciously.

"I never pegged you as stupid, Kai,"he sneered acidly, pupils slitting to the point that he looked almost rabid.

Kai's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly at the shot, but otherwise he did nothing to further indicate that he had heard.

"For the last two years, you were in _exile, _thanks to _his _negligence and mistrust in you. You talked about revenge on the establishment, not trying to get into the _Commander's," _he snarled the title with undisguised contempt, "pants,"

"Maybe there's a reason why I don't tell people things,"Kai mused quietly, sounding more as if he were talking to himself than to Ray.

Ray raked a hand through his ebony bangs in an effort to calm himself down, sheathing his claws, before opening his mouth again.

"Maybe there is,"he agreed softly, "But that doesn't change anything. It certainly doesn't change the way I feel about this. I'm only trying to look out for you, phoenix; I'm your friend, and I have been while Ivanov was thinking you were a murderer,"

"_I _am _a murderer,"_his companion breathed out, voice smooth and gelid as a flowing glacier and face turned away so Ray couldn't see his blank expression.

"You _know _what I meant, Kai,"

"_You don't get a say in this, Kon. I'm doing what I want now and if I get hurt, then I do. But no one is going to control me in any way, shape or form _ever _again,"_

Ray sighed as he watched Kai officially retreat back into himself with that final statement, obviously having had enough of socializing for the moment.

~_Why do you always have to be so difficult, Kai?~_he mentally grumbled, digging his claws into his palm in order to keep from yelling.

Strained silence fell over them, both closing their eyes in efforts to refrain from arguing anymore.

Unfortunately, this silence was broken by Tala's untimely arrival on the scene.

Ray sensed his presence the second he came in and he reacted by grabbing the redhead around the throat and pinning him ruthlessly against the wall.

"_I knew your re-entering Phoenix's life was going to spell trouble for us. I warned him that his attraction to you would put him in danger. And now here's the proof. But I'd like to see him have his fun with you once I damage his new whore,"_he spit venomously, extending lethal claws towards Tala's windpipe.

Neither of them noticed Kai watching this stand-off calmly out of the corner of his eye as Ray slammed his claws against Tala's unprotected abdomen, tearing his black t-shirt and skin, drawing blood.

The wolf started to double over in pain and was met with a sharp fist in the face on the way, snapping his head back into the wall and causing him to lose his balance.

When he hit the floor, Ray hauled him back up roughly by his collar.

"_I could kill you, you know. No one would stop me. Kai's not even stopping me from doing this,"_

He slammed Tala against the wall. Once. Twice. Three times.

Tala started to say something, but Ray cut him off before he got a single word out, caging his tongue in between his thumb and forefinger.

"_No, don't even bother speaking, Ivanov. Nothing you can say will change my opinion of you,"_

Bruises began to form on the redhead's hostage appendage as Ray pulled it out further, almost immediately joined by droplets of blood when he added his claws to the mix.

A cruel sneer curled the tiger's feline mouth when he spotted Tala's violet eyes moistening and his own golden slits lit up with a sort of depraved satisfaction.

"_This is what you deserve, _Commander,"

Ray's elbow dug into Tala's Adam's apple, slowly cutting off his air supply. And still, Kai did nothing to stop him.

It was only when Tala blacked out from the pain and lack of air that a gloved hand finally closed over Ray's wrist, forcing him to release his grip on the blackened and bleeding piece of flesh.

"_**Enough**__,"_

A strong arm coiled around his middle and pulled him away from the man now laying prone on the floor, breathing shallowly.

When he was a good five feet away from Tala, the arm tightened around him ,effectively trapping him back against its owner's chest.

"Let me go, Kai,"

"No,"

Ray felt the smoothness of leather-covered fingers coming to rest languidly just below the back of his neck, ready to sever his spinal cord in a split-second.

"**If you like him so much, why didn't you stop me earlier?**"Ray questioned, fully aware that Kai wouldn't hesitate to kill him, or at least seriously injure him, if he said or did the wrong thing at that moment.

The pressure at the base of his neck increased so slightly, it was barely noticeable.

"_**I don't protect those who don't require it,**__"_

"**You didn't think he required protection when I was about to tear his tongue out?**"

This time, his head was slowly pulled back by an iron grip on his hair above the thin tendril most of it was wrapped up in.

Hot breath brushed the side of his face as Kai brought the two of them cheek-to-cheek and spoke without emotion, "_**Tread carefully, Kon, We may be friends, but if you continue to try my patience, like you did with this little stunt, the 'Gamemaster' won't have to kill you because I'll do it myself,**__"_

Ray was released then, and both Kai and Tala disappeared from the convening room, leaving Ray to slump against the wall and attempt to catch his breath.

* * *

**September 7**

**16:28pm**

The first sound that came out of Tala's thin lips when he regained consciousness was a groan;because he was unable to do anything else thanks to the number Ray had done on his tongue.

_`So you survived, then?`_Kai's silky accented voice said dully into his mind.

Tala found the bluenette leaning against the wall in his trademark pose, looking utterly unconcerned at the fact that Tala had just nearly been killed.

`_Where are we?`_

_`My office.`_

The redhead took a look around, rubbing the back of his sore neck, and found he, of course, recognized the dimly lit, slightly circular room.

`_I didn't think I should take you to my house, seeing as how I live with the man who just tried to kill you.`_Kai answered his unasked question without emotion.

Tala shifted from his position on the floor and pulled himself to his feet, testing out his tongue as he did so to see how bad it was.

He could make it twitch upward...and that was about it.

~_Fuck.~_he swore in his head, shaking it ruefully.

Then, in the blink of an eyes, Kai was standing in front of him and gently prying his lips apart to examine the damage done to his tongue.

Tala felt himself getting vaguely lightheaded when Kai ran a smooth finger over the surface of his basically dead appendage, forgetting all about how much it ached.

"_Hn, the bruise will be gone in an hour, at most,"_he stated nonchalantly, but his fingers continued lightly stroking Tala's tongue as his free hand came to rest on Tala's hip.

`_So would you care to tell me exactly _what _that guy's problem with me is?"_

A slight smirk curved the phoenix's flawless lips for a minute before it was set again into its usual smooth line.

`_Ray is only one, besides me, who knows the full extent of about what happened on the night of Bryan and Spencer's attempted murder. I told him I wanted revenge..and you.`_

_`What, does he have an envy complex or something? He's been your confidante for two years, and now he's afraid that I'm going to take his place because you're attracted to me?`_

Kai snorted under his breath.

_`More like he's convinced that you're going to be the death of me.` _the bluenette responded, brushing away the fiery hair that Tala had been trying to subtly blink out his shadowed amethysts for the last few minutes, and tucking it behind his ear, releasing his tongue in the process.

_`And why, exactly, is that, Kai?`_

Tala arched a crimson eyebrow, all too aware that Kai\s gloved hand was still cupping the side of his face, while the one on his hip was moving steadily upward.

His breath hitched rapidly when, at the same time, Kai's gloved hand cupped him between his legs and his soft lips crashed against Tala's heatedly, effectively driving any and all other thoughts from his head, except for how roughly his mouth was being scalded.

The hand cupping the side of his face pulled away and caught both of Tala's hands, trapping them above his head, against the wall, while he almost gagged on the intruding tongue skilfully nudging his mouth open.

"_You know you want this,"_Kai whispered into the kiss, dark red orbs burning into Tala's violet ones.

The redhead felt himself drowning in the intensity of that razor-sharp gaze.

"_You...belong to __**me**__,"_

And then, Kai's lips were on his again, white-hot and mind-numbingly ravaging, virtually stealing every ounce of air from his lungs.

Everything spun around him, blazing hot, burning, on fire and he couldn't think about anything except for the hard body pressing him firmly into the wall and the hot mouth currently devouring his, utterly devoid of any pretence of gentleness;in place of such was only the air of perverse fantasies and sick thrills that consumed and was consuming Tala's otherwise blank mind.

"_Give into it, Tala," _Kai's blistering breath ghosted past his ear as his smooth tongue licked suggestively at its outer shell, "_I told you:you know you want this, You know you'd enjoy being under me, with me fucking you every way possible. My murderer's hands sliding over every inch of that porcelain skin of yours-"_

"Stop,"Tala gasped desperately, cutting him off as he attempted to get his breath back, "J-just stop,"

Kai backed off enough to give him room to breathe, but other than that, nothing about their position changed.

Tala closed his eyes and leaned his head back, trying to forget about the tingles running through his body at being pinned to the wall by Kai's slanted, barely covered hips.

"_You're going to choose, Commander, if you want me...or not,"_

Tala slowly opened his eyes to fiery red, so consuming that it almost burned his vision, but he forced himself not to blink.

"I _do _want you,"he admitted in a voice barely above a whisper, "But if we're going to do this, it's going to be on my terms,"

The sound of Kai's hand planting itself next to his head made him jump as the bluenette bent his head downward until they were practically nose-to-nose.

The taller man then let out a singularly mirthless laugh that didn't quite reach the clear danger in his flickering eyes.

"You obviously have to idea who you're dealing with here, _**volk**_[6]. The only thing that's kept you alive all these years is my attraction to you;and the second that that wanes, you're going to be dead. So, I think you know what my answer to that is. But this is going to happen,whether you want it to...or not;but I'd prefer it if you didn't fight,"Kai gave him a callous sneer, "I would hate to have to kill you before I've had my fun with you;but mostly, it would be a shame to damage that pretty face of yours,"

Tala was too shocked by those words to even register the gloved hand that mockingly caressed his still-flushed and grabbed his chin between the leather-covered thumb and forefinger.

Kai chuckled cruelly at the wolf's lack of reaction and his smirk grew.

"Hn. You see? I've already bent you to my will. Now get rid of any notions of thinking you have a say in this, ah, _relationship,_ and I won't have to kill you,"

He tilted Tala's head to the side and latched his mouth onto the white neck below it, sucking the skin in between his teeth and biting down, just barely leaving the skin intact;and Tala didn't do a thing about it.

"Much better," Kai breathed with satisfaction, licking the bite mark.

The loud buzz of Kai's cellphone punctured the heavy silence, jolting Kai out of his reverie.

He withdrew the phone from his jeans pocket;the words "Unknown Caller"were blinking back at him for the second time that day.

He could feel the adrenalin racing through his veins as he flipped the silver device open and pressed it to his ear.

"What...do you want?"

"_**I warned you, Hiwatari. And now your friends and peers are going to pay the price for your mistake. Care to hear an example?**_"

The line was overtaken by agonized screams, screams that Kai recognized all too well:Bryan's.

"_**I don't think the falcon's too happy right now,**__"_

"_I won't say it .?"_Kai growled, clenching his fist and forming a steel vice around his cell.

A snicker.

"_**Tell you what;I'll give you one chance, which is more than you and your friends ever gave me. Come to the place where all of this started at sunset. Oh, and don't forget to bring your new little toy,**_"

And the line went dead.

* * *

**September 7**

**19:18pm**

"So glad you could make it, Hiwatari,"the Gamemaster's cold voice drawled as the three men entered the church with Kai leading the way.

Kai's slanted red eyes darkened when he saw his tormentor was alone in the center of the congregation room.

"I see you brought your kitten as well,"

"Where's Bryan?"Tala snarled from behind Kai, perse eyes flashing angrily as he subconsciously rubbed his bruised throat underneath the collared, black t-shirt he had on.

The Gamemaster sniggered without humor.

"Oh, you mean my new pet,"

He smirked smugly and snapped his fingers.

Two familiar lions entered the room silently, dragging a battered and bleeding Bryan, bound and gagged, between them.

Kai looked at his mangled friend carefully and suppressed a growl with difficulty.

Bryan was conscious and alive, but just barely. He was shaking and muttering to himself under his breath, a tortured, clearly grief-stricken look on his light brown visage.

"Let him go,"

"I don't think I'll be doing that, dear _**volk**_. You see, I'm having far too much fun torturing him at _all _the players' expense,"

The Gamemaster grabbed Bryan's collar and heaved him up, forcing him to face his friends.

"Kai,"

Silver and fire lased in on each other and Kai's eyes turned to garnets at what he saw there.

`_Get me out of here, Phoenix.`_

The phoenix moved his gaze onto the Gamemaster, being careful not to give anything away.

"Heh. You can't do a thing to stop me from doing what I want, Hiwatari,"

Just to prove his point, he slammed the falcon into the nearest wall by the throat, using his free hand to slip off his grey sunglasses.

An almost inhuman shade of electric blue flared out from underneath that mottled green hood and the second Bryan looked into it, his mouth opened in an agonized yell;he slumped forward, both hands clutching convulsively at his platinum head.

His silver eyes clenched shut and his knuckles turned a sickly shade of white.

"What are you doing to him?"Tala demanded furiously, taking a livid step forward, but Ray's gloved hand closed over the back of his jacket and forcefully yanked him back, stopping him from going any further.

"_Don't be an idiot,"_the tiger growled in an undertone, pupils slitting in warning, daring Tala to disregard his words.

Kai merely stared placidly as his opponent replaced the grey Ray-Bans beneath his dull hood, crossing his black-clad arms over his chest.

"Now, then, I did bring you here to give you a chance to keep your friend there from having to go through any more suffering. I'm going to make you an offer;an exchange of sorts for your friend,"

Kai arched a solitary slate eyebrow,"And just what might that be?"

A smirk curved the Gamemaster's pale lips.

"If you want Kuznetsov, you're going to give me Kon,"

Said ebony-hair watched Kai scrutinizingly for his reaction;the bluenette was wearing an utterly nonchalant expression, as if he were actually considering the Gamemaster's proposal.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, "_**No deal, ublyudok,**_"

The Gamemaster shook his hooded head almost regretfully as the all too predictable answer.

"**Shame you didn't back off when you had the chance, **_**Kai, **_**because now, things are going to get ugly,**"

He snapped his fingers a second time.

And in the blink of an eye, Ray was sprawled across the marble floor with growling lion's paw pressing down firmly on his chest.

The Gamemaster drew a Mamba pistol from his cloak and pointed the muzzle directly at Bryan, who was still screaming, when Tala moved to get the lion off of Ray.

"No one moves a muscle,"he cocked his pistol, "or the falcon dies,"

All four men just froze, Kai not actually deviating from his original state.

"Shit,"Tala hissed under his breath, clenching both his bloodless fists in the pockets of his crimson jacket.

Kai, however, remained impassive, relaxing back on his heels and keeping his arms crossed over his chest.

`_Kai?`_Ray's lilting voice resonated in his head, sounding uncharacteristically tentative, `_Aren't you going to do something?`_

He got no response, though and Kai stayed unreadable and inert as a statue.

_~That's just fucking great.`_Ray mentally groaned before inhaling deeply and taking matters into his own hands.

His legs both kicked up, lifting him off of the floor and spinning around in midair, both shoving the lion off of him and helping him onto his feet.

Narrowing his golden slits, Ray unsheathed his claws and launched himself at the Gamemaster with an almost feral roar.

The Gamemaster's smirk grew as Ray advanced, looking positively furious;he didn't even look human any longer.

But in the split second before his claws made contact with his unaffected target, the Gamemaster played his final trump card:he dragged the still-yelling falcon into Ray's path, effectively halting him in his tracks.

His opponent snickered and threw Bryan aside like a rag doll, grabbing the frozen teen around his neck and then, slamming him brutally into the wall;several times in a row.

"_This is the price you pay for being affiliated with Hiwatari, tiger,"_

Ray let out a yell of pain as the Gamemaster's bladed armguard rammed into his stomach, tearing through his skin like it was paper.

"What do you have against him?"Ray asked weakly, clutching at his bleeding middle.

He felt his hair being brushed aside from his ear and something sharp digging into its pointed tip before the Gamemaster answered cryptically, "_More than you know, Kon,"_

And then, suddenly, a stabbing pain erupted inside his head;he cried out involuntarily, sinking to the floor with gloved hands clapped over his slitted eyes.

The Gamemaster's foot caught him in the side on the way down and he went sprawling onto his back, biting his lip and drawing blood in his desperation not to scream.

Before he knew it, Kai's shamshir blade was at his throat and his vision was consumed by fiery red.

"_You were correct;things _are _going to get ugly now,"_

Kai's tone was smooth and almost inhumanly devoid of emotion;but it didn't reach those simmering eyes of his, which actually seemed to have gotten brighter.

The Gamemaster chuckled humorlessly.

"Well played, Hiwatari,"he commented sardonically, smirk still firmly in place, even when he was being held at sword point; "So what now?If you kill me, all you'll do is prove that you're nothing but a lowly, underhanded murderer,"

Kai smiled.

And spun to the floor, kicking the Gamemaster's feet out from under him.

He hit the floor, but never stopped moving, doing something akin to a back flip to get back to his feet. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly, "Bad move, _**mudak**_[7],"

Kai was somehow blown back a good ten feet and his back hit the wall. Ray fell at his feet, no longer fighting not to scream, but still bleeding and now unconscious.

"You can have your kitten, but,"the Gamemaster's smirk turned into a ruthless sneer, "I have to make good on my threat,"

He picked Bryan up by the back of his shirt, bringing his back to his chest.

Then, in one instant, he snapped his head back and the falcon fell to the floor gracelessly;lifeless.

* * *

[1] _Chto-_what

[2] _Privet-_hello

[3]_Dosvidanya, drugu-_goodbye, friend

[4]_Ublyudok-_motherfucker

[5]_Nyet-_no

[6]_volk-_wolf

[7]_mudak-_asshole


	8. Chapter 8:The Gamemaster

Title:Deception

Author:superhackaninja5

Rating:R

Summary:see chapter one

Warnings:see chapter one

Disclaimer:The main character, the plot and all the settings belong to me. Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade and Naruto belong to their creators. I also own Zyder, although he is now dead, unfortunately. And I miss ITACHI!Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.

(" .."denotes character speaking

_~blah..blah~_denotes character thinking

_`blah..blah..`_denotes people speaking telepathically to each other

"**blah...blah..**"other language }

Reason for the unbelievable delay in posting this chapter:first, typer's block. Heard of writer's block?well, typer's is nothing like it. I was also busy typing my 200-page real book with all my own characters. Unfortunately it is posted nowhere so you will be unable to read it if you want to so sorry about that. But typing it took freaking forever and I genuinely didn't wanna type anything else until I was finished with it. About my other stories, well, for them, and the other book I'm in the process of writing on paper right now, writer's block has taken my brain and thrown it out the window.

Yay chapter 8!This chapter actually didn't take that long for once because once I got going, I couldn't really stop. That's why I now officially love this story-once I get inspiration for it, I just get it all down and usually it covers an entire chapter. I really liked this chapter, too. Lots of death, lots of gore and a bit more Kai/Tala. And I'm kind of sick of recaps, so I'm not going to do one this time around. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 8:The Gamemaster

_Pray for us_

_Sinners now_

_And at the hour of our death_

_Save us_

_-_Structures-Abandon All Ships

_'**The players have seen their enemy**_

_**But know not his identity**_

_**He has decreed that no one shall live**_

_**By order of the Game that holds all captive**'_

**September 8**

**01:38am**

~_So here I was thinking that the legendary phoenix had no emotional attachments at all-when in reality, he only has none that he's willing to admit to._~

Almond-skinned eyelids jolted open slowly and cast a glare out at the still stubbornly dark sky outside of the grimy window. Embers glowed and flickered at the tip of the thin cigarette poised between slightly parted golden-tinged lips and he inhaled in the smoke deeply, exhaling a perfect smoke ring into the damp dawn air.

Things were going his way for once in his life and his plot for revenge was playing out exactly the way he had planned it. This was all fitting retribution for the way his life had been utterly destroyed by the players and their phony ''establishment''.

The establishment had called themselves the city's police force- but the truth of that matter was, they were more like the sort of people that police officers were meant to be getting rid of;they deserved what he was doing to them and so much more.

Five deceivers and each of them being the cause or connected to the cause for his ultimate ostracism from the entirety of the rest of the world.

Revenge was sweet, oh yes-and it was about to get even sweeter.

* * *

**September 8**

**01:06am**

When Seto walked into the underground complex that morning, smelling strongly of sulphur and ash, he took one look at all of the drawn and pallid faces and was immediately puzzled. "What have I missed?"

Itachi pinned him with the most serious look ever to grace his pale features and answered in a lifeless monotone, "What you've missed is that this underground operation is no longer relevant. I have more important matters to attend to now and revenge is no longer an ambition of _any _of ours,"

Here, he turned his obsidian gaze on Kai, whose eyes remained closed.

The weasel continued to stare at him unwaveringly until his head tilted slightly downward and he stated flatly, "He's right, Dragon,"

Auburn eyes slid open slowly and gradually before their owner spoke again.

"Revenge is a nonentity now. Both Bryan and Spencer are dead. And we have the commander of the establishment right here,"

Those words drew Seto's attention to the silent redhead standing on Kai's right for the first time since he had come into the entrance hall. He gave the commander a swift once-over before returning his eyes onto Kai. "Bryan and Spencer are dead?"he repeated without emotion, gnawing on his bottom lip to suppress his anxiety.

Kai leaned back against the wall and resumed his previous stance before uttering dully, "Yes."

The dragon turned instantly to Itachi for confirmation. When the raven-haired nodded an affirmative, Seto exhaled heavily, feeling as though his mere breathing was intruding on the subdued atmosphere.

"That explains why it seems like a funeral procession in here,"he commented, more to himself than to the others, before asking aloud, "What happened?"

Itachi took a deep, slightly exaggerated breath. "You may want to take a seat,"

He looked over at the silent phoenix a second time.

"Kai?"

The bluenette only half-opened his fiery eyes this time and they were narrowed in Itachi's direction for a brief second while he gave the weasel a clearly uncaring glance before the lids slid down over them again.

"Well, I guess that means he won't care if I tell you, then,"

The elder Uchiha rolled his eyes, angled his legs in front of him and, facing Seto, he started speaking in a strictly dispassionate tone, "Bryan and Spencer were both killed by a man who is after the four of us, as well as Blake Cameron, and,"he scoffed disparagingly, "calls himself the Gamemaster."

Seto leaned his head back and raised his dark brown eyebrows with obvious scepticism.

"And why, exactly, is he after the five of you?"

Itachi shrugged, "We have no idea. He says it's because of this,"

He reached inside the chest of his red and black coat and withdrew from it a loosely rolled-up scroll of very old-seeming paper. He tossed the scroll to Seto, who caught it one-handed and quickly unrolled it, holding it up in front of him and scanning it carefully.

When he finished, his eyebrows had risen so high, they were in danger of disappearing into his hairline.

"What the hell is this?"he questioned incredulously, throwing the scroll practically carelessly back to Itachi.

The younger man rolled the paper up again and tucked it back into his coat, then answered coldly, "He called it the prophecy of conquest. The 'five most powerful entities' listed there are us and, apparently, he intends to follow that prophecy and, I quote, 'gain ultimate power,"

Seto let out a derisive snort at those words. "What utter bullshit,"he scoffed disbelievingly, "Who does this 'Gamemaster', or whatever the hell he calls himself, think he's kidding? If he's after you for anything and he's not averse to killing others for it, it's more likely than not for revenge,"

"That does seem to be the general consensus,"Itachi admitted thoughtfully, tucking his slender hands into his pockets. "What I think the question here is revenge for what?None of us can think of what it is we did to him that he would be wanting revenge for,"

Seto fell silent to think about that when Tala piped up again, "The black market deals in more than objects, does it not?"

Itachi turned to face him and the wolf shifted uncomfortably under those twin endless obsidian voids.

"As a matter of fact, it does,"he replied, "Why, what were you hoping it dealt in?"

"Information,"Tala stated truthfully, forcing himself to meet Itachi's soulless black eyes instead of looking away like he wanted to, "Maybe that black market trader who had the prophecy of conquest at his center knows a little more about the one he first revealed it to,"

The blacknette appeared to consider his statement carefully for several minutes. Then, the corners of his bloodless lips just barely twitched.

He looked back at Seto.

"Want to come along, Kaiba? I think it's time I pay the prophecy-keeper, Ivan Papov, another visit and I could use you,"

"Sure, why not,"Seto shrugged his black-clad shoulders.

Kai pushed himself wordlessly off of the wall and Tala actually said, "I'm coming as well."

Itachi nodded, and the six men left the underground complex without a sound.

* * *

**September 8**

**01:16am**

When the blackness surrounding the inside of the Black Market trade center slowly began to gain substance, Ian knew something was definitely wrong.

"Why does this always happen to me?"he grumbled irritably under his breath, pulling out the dagger from his leather weapons belt.

Then he felt the tell-tale prick of the exact same weapon at his side.

"Drop your weapon, prophecy-keeper. You know you can't win,"that same sibilant, lion-esque voice from two years ago commanded softly, tone leaving no room for argument.

Ian, regretfully, complied and the bronze knife hit the floor with a dull clatter.

"Good, you know when you're outmatched. If you had been anyone else, I might have chosen you to be a pawn of mine,"

There was a rueful smile in the voice creeping over the back of his neck, "As it is, unfortunately, I'm still going to have to kill you,"

The last thing the prophecy-keeper heard before his vision went red was the sound of a lion growling.

* * *

**September 8**

**02:00am**

"Well, this is a sorry sight,"Seto observed mildly as he opened the door to the trade center and found it completely torn apart.

Ripped scraps of paper and shards of shattered glass were all scattered haphazardly across the grime-encrusted dirt floor underneath masses of overturned shelves, chairs and a single desk and wardrobe smashed to matchsticks-the dark jumble a sharp contrast to the violently blood-smeared walls.

"Oh, god, you have _got _to be kidding me with this,"

In the center of it all lay the very person they had been seeking;the prophecy-keeper, stripped of his clothes, skin and eyeballs, skull cracked open with brains nailed to the wall and skeleton twisted and inverted into a sock, convoluted knot.

When Ray's amber eyes fell on the desecrated corpse, he had to exercise an extreme effort not to gag. Tala didn't have as much luck, though-he vomited into the nearest wastebasket.

"Looks like we won't be getting any information on our tormentor this way,"Sasuke said dully, onyx orbs focused intensely on the dead man's brains, which were pinned, with several rusty drill bits, into the red-stained left wall.

"Then can we go? I don't know about you, but I'm not really fond of the smell of a rotting corpse,"Tala quipped unsteadily, clutching at his churning stomach. Said smell was pervading his senses and threatening to elicit even more bile from the back of his throat.

The hawk shot Kai a cursory glance and suggested without meeting the bluenette's eyes, "Hiwatari, do us all a favour and keep your friend there quiet,"

Not waiting for an answer-not that he was expecting one-he crossed the room in a few swift strides and went to examine the gruesome tableau in the corner.

He traced a gloved finger over a scratch embedded in the wall slowly, committing the grooves and curves to his analytic mind.

"Lions,"he concluded concisely, rising to his full height again and brushing off the knees of his dark jeans, "Lions made this scratch-it was the Gamemaster who committed this murder,"

"Really? I never would have guessed,"Ray muttered dryly, rolling his topaz eyes expressively.

His gaze sought out Kai's reaction to this news and he saw what he had expected:his friend leaning against the wall in his usual position, wearing an expression appropriate to watching a less-than-entertaining television program.

Sasuke sighed.

"So what happens now?"he questioned his brother neutrally, onyx eyes unreadable beneath his blue-ebony bangs.

Gloved hands retreated back into coat pockets before the elder Uchiha answered the younger, tone perfectly even as ever. "We'll get information elsewhere. I'm sure there's more than one place in Secretum that can tell us about our friend, the Gamemaster's past and identity,"he decided finally, not looking at anyone with his soulless gaze focused straight ahead.

Sasuke seemed to be contemplating this statement for several minutes. Then he added, "And I think I might know of one, too. My partner, Scarecrow, knows something about everyone in this city, including their dirty little secrets."

"Sounds promising,"Itachi commented without emotion, "Since we have no other leads, we may as well follow this one," "Right,"Sasuke nodded.

And the four players, plus Ray and Seto vanished once again.

* * *

**September 8**

**02:45am**

`Scarecrow` was still deep in slumber when they arrived at his and Sasuke's base and the young assassin had to prod his partner repeatedly with the sharp end of his chokuto blade in order to rouse the white-haired man from his slumber.

"There was no need to poke me with that thing-it hurt,"he grumbled, sitting up in his cot and rubbing his arm where Sasuke had jabbed with the large sword.

Sasuke stowed the chokuto sword back in its leather harness and deigned not to make a reply.

His partner pushed himself out of the bed and opened his door-when he saw the five men in the sitting room, he rounded on the younger man; "Bit early for a house call, isn't it?"

"They're not here to give us a job, Kakashi,"Sasuke sighed, using the man's real name for once, "_We're _here for answers,"

Kakashi smiled without humour.

"No doubt involving this reclusive 'Gamemaster' character I've been hearing so much about lately, hmm?"he observed coolly, surprising everyone in the room.

The genuine shock was palpable from every one of the men, except Kai and Itachi, of course.

"so what exactly do you know about this 'Gamemaster', then, _Kakashi_?"Itachi asked quietly, black coals glittering dangerously and narrowing ever so slightly.

The older man's smile turned crooked, "That information's going to cost you, _Itachi_;even if you _are _my partner's brother-"

He barely finished getting the words out before he found himself flat on his back with Itachi's black boot pressing down on his chest.

A serrated butterfly knife appeared in the raven-haired man's gloved hand as if from thin air and the sight of its gleaming, oscillating blade hypnotized Kakashi as Itachi began to spin it languidly between his thumb and forefinger.

"Do not presume that just because you are the elder between us that you can belittle me, _`Scarecrow`_,"he intoned silkily, voice even softer than before. Sasuke resisted a grin;he knew that tone.

"My strength and intelligence far outstrip your own and if I wanted, I could kill you right now,"Itachi's voice had lowered to an almost sinful caress, like the thought of death couldn't possibly entice him more, "But sadly, you have something I want more than taking your life and I'm giving you the opportunity to give it to me of your own free will. Otherwise, I will have to resort to much more..._creative _methods,"

The tri-comma blades sharpened into existence in Itachi's suddenly russet orbs and mimicked the knife in his hand;spinning lividly in their sockets.

Kakashi raised his palms in almost immediate surrender.

"Okay, I'll give you the information you want. Just, just let me up, please?"he begged, a dull lump settling in his throat where Itachi's boot now was.

The pressure on his windpipe increased slightly before vanishing altogether and Itachi stepped back, allowing him room to stand. The scarecrow rose tentatively to his feet, keeping his one uncovered eye on the blade still spinning dully in Itachi's hand as he straightened himself out.

But before he was fully able to do so, he felt a strangely familiar sharpness at the base of his neck.

"Tell me what I want to know and I shall allow you further motion,"

There was a pause.

"And talk fast,"

"Well, I don't know everything about him,"Kakashi confessed unevenly, wary of what his admission might provoke;then he added hastily, "But I do know quite a bit. His real name is Kyoya Rider, which is where I imagine his self-imposed title, the 'Lion Rider' originated from. He controls lions, explaining the 'lion' part. He was born in Japan, but came to live here in Secretum at a very early age , not even a year old. His parents were named Scott and Sarina Rider and...that's all I know,"

He felt something thick and warm sliding down the back of his neck and froze, abruptly trying to make himself as still as possible.

Then Itachi spoke.

"I hope for your sake that that information is accurate-because if it isn't-well, I'll let your imagination do the work,"

He removed the knife from Kakashi's back and said, "Oh, and to stem any further enquiries,"

Kakashi felt a crushing pain over the back of his head before he slumped to the ground again, unconscious this time.

Itachi cast him a vaguely pitying look before tucking his butterfly knife back into the rim of his left boot and turning to face the others.

"Now why do those two names sound familiar?"he addressed Tala carefully, crimson gaze narrowing even further until his eyes mirrored Ray's Sharingan blades spinning more madly than ever in his pale slits.

* * *

**September 8**

**02:15am**

Darkness surrounded and sharply accentuated the short, lithe figure of the Gamemaster as he sat atop the tall building, black-clad legs dangling off of the edge of the railing in the air.

It was still the small hours of the morning and he was allowing his servants the privilege of a hunt, although some were still full after their snack earlier on.

That prophecy-keeper had incurred his wrath on himself-he had asked for what he had gotten, knowing so much;a slow, painful death.

A rueful smile curved the gold corners of his lips as he remembered the screams that had erupted from Papov's mouth as the Gamemaster's lions had slowly ripped him into small pieces. Like music to his ears-if he had been able to, he would have recorded that sound so he could play it over and over again.

Three years ago, when the establishment had effectively all but ruined his life, that had been him on the inside.

**~Flashback~**

**September 3**

**3 years ago, 1999**

_The wooden double doors were violently kicked down and hit the floor with a thundering crash, revealing four men all carrying frighteningly large guns and who had knife handles jutting out of the tops of their boots._

"_What the hell is going on here?"Scott Rider rushed into the room with his fifteen-year-old son and wife, Sarina trailing behind him. "Stay in the kitchen, Kyoya, these men look dangerous,"Sarina whispered to the emerald-haired boy standing in the doorway;but she didn't wait to see if he obeyed before going to join her husband._

"_What is this about?"she asked in a much calmer tone than her husband, looking straight ahead with a sort of fire in her brown eyes._

_Although all four men looked far younger than both her and her husband-in fact, two of them seemed to be the same age as her son-they all still looked positively terrifying. The one on the far left looked the most so, bearing striking spiked, dual-toned hair;a stark midnight at the back, lightening into a sharp contrast of slate grey in the front, stopping just short of brushing the row of thick lashes at the rim of his pale eyelids._

_The eyes of all three members of the Rider family were drawn to the gleam at this man's leather belt-clipped to its side was what looked oddly like a surgical scalpel. _

_The other three men varied in appearance, but all four held a single similarity;an unbelievably deadpan expression upon their hard faces._

"_We have a warrant for the arrest and/or neutralization of one Scott Rider and his wife, Sarina Narigatu,"the redhead at the front of the group spoke in a firm, authoritative Russian accent. His fiery hair culminated into two large, triangular spikes at either side of his head with the two darker strands hanging loose and shadowing soulless violet eyes._

"_On what grounds?"Scott demanded furiously, wrapping a protective arm around his wife's shoulders without taking his eyes off of the shorter man in front of him._

_The redhead withdrew a length of paper from his shirt pocket and tossed it to him. Scott caught it in both of his hands and scanned it over critically, his turquoise eyes growing wider with every word he read._

"_These accusations are completely false,"he concluded stubbornly once he finished, dropping the paper at his feet in disgust. The redhead shrugged helplessly, "Hey, I don't make the law, I just enforce it, buddy. Kai?"_

_He faced the dual-haired man near the back of the queue and snapped his fingers, "Take them,"_

"_Kyoya, get out of here!"Scott yelled abruptly, getting ready for a fight. But Kyoya stayed rooted to his spot and all he could do was watch as first his mother and then his father were shot to the floor and exposed the raven-haired man's oscillating, bloody red eyes and those three spinning black blades that took the place of his pupils._

_The house was rent with his parent's screams as they were slowly torn apart from the inside out._

_He froze when 'Kai' entered the fray and used the scalpel attached to his belt to carve the two adults virtually to shreds. And then, when Kai lifted his head from the gory task, Kyoya found himself looking into eyes that burned themselves into his brain-eyes he would never forget:the eyes of the Devil._

**~End Flashback~**

His parents' death, his parents' _murder _at the hands of the establishment had been the single most horrifying, terrible moment of his life. Having to stand there and watch it happen, not being able to do a thing to stop it had made it even worse. But now he was getting his revenge and he was enjoying it even more immensely than he had thought he would.

He was dying to see what would happen when the players finally figured out why he was tormenting them so cruelly. Perhaps he should tell them himself just so he could see the looks on their faces when he told them that they'd incurred his wrath upon all of their peers and loved ones because they had thought they were serving justice by killing his parents.

Inwardly, the Gamemaster chuckled.

It was almost poetic how wrong they'd turned out to be. ~_I think it's time I really set this stage alight.~_He declared to himself, rising to his feet and jumping down from the balcony.

* * *

**September 8**

**03:11am**

A nasty surprise was waiting for the six men when they stopped and payed a visit to Tala's loft so he could grab himself some clothes since he would be staying at the underground complex until the so-called 'game' was over.

What was obviously blood was painted in a crimson arch over the head of the steel-reinforced door and a bloody, smudged boot print shone dully on the linoleum floor in front of it.

Adding to that, there was a strangely heavy, sweet smell seeping out from the crack beneath the door and Tala's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he withdrew his keys from the chest pocket of Kai's black biker jacket-which he happened to be wearing. He unlocked the door and pushed it open with a steadily building sense of trepidation and when he stepped inside, he saw that it was a well-founded sense.

What were clearly someone's insides, including brains, guts and what looked gruesomely like intestines were strewn across his carpet, the crimson-stained mass standing out sharply against its stark off-white colour.

The others were standing outside the open door, but when Seto decided to have a look behind it, he half-closed and found something even more disturbing than the ruptured entrails spread across the floor waiting for him.

"well, one thing I can say for this 'Gamemaster' character, he certainly has a flair for subtlety,"the dragon commented ironically, his statement drawing Tala's attention to the center of his focus.

Nailed to the back of the white door was what seemed to be a vaguely familiar cyan-skinned figure-but the body was so ravaged it was impossible to tell for sure who it was.

And like with when they had found Spencer dead, there were words written in blood on the wall above the body, except this time, there were only two:

"**ESTABLISHMENT SCUM**"

An overwhelming wave of nausea washed over the commander at this grisly sight and he swallowed hard over the lump in his throat that still hadn't gone away from seeing the prophecy-keeper's corpse.

"Oh, _God,_"he groaned, sickened, and he grabbed onto the object nearest him in order to refrain from losing his balance. His legs rebelled against his effort, however and his knees came halfway to hitting the floor before someone grabbed him under the shoulders and hauled him back up. When he looked up to see who, his vision was met with fiery copper, set in an imperceptible look.

Kai's hands forcefully pushed him back into a standing position and remained on either side of his waist even once he'd straightened out;Tala didn't object.

"Who the hell is this?"Ray questioned distastefully, folding his arms over his chest with raised eyebrows.

Tala shifted uncomfortably, still rather unsteady on his feet, even with Kai holding him up.

"Shark,"he felt Kai's hot breath brush past his ear as he made that statement with his usual apathetic, aloof tone. "Kisame Hakran,"Itachi clarified in a bored voice, eyes trained on the form nailed to the back of the door, "One of the establishment's top Torture/Interrogations agents," "And an old friend of yours, if I'm not mistaken, Weasel,"Seto added bluntly, looking at the younger man with an unreadable expression.

Itachi said nothing to confirm or deny Seto's statement aloud, still looking straight at the dead man who had once been his friend.

"I guess we know this is serious now;the Gamemaster really is planning to kill all of our peers, down to everyone we've ever met and cared about, just to get his revenge,"

Tala took another look around, biting his lip to keep from vomiting for the second time that day, then waved his hand,"Forget it, I'll just have to make due with these clothes-I can't stand to be here a second longer. I'm going to have to get the removal task force to get him out of here. Let's go,"

This time, when he made to leave once the others had already exited the room, Kai's hands prevented him from taking more than one step.

"Kai?"he said curiously, arching a crimson eyebrow at his, boyfriend, for lack of a better term.

Said bluenette's smouldering umber eyes were on him in a second, staring into his violet orbs unblinkingly.

"_I want you to look at this man, Tala. You're going to have to become immune to these sorts of things,"_

Tala swore he felt something warm in his ear as those words were spoken in the phoenix's smooth, velvet-like Russian accent. "What?Why?"he snapped abruptly-then he saw the cold, detached look on Kai's chiseled face. "Are you telling me that this doesn't affect you in the least?the redhead demanded fiercely, sounding scandalized.

Kai's response was entirely all too monosyllabic: "_No._"

Tala threw up his hands in surrender, as if saying "I give up". "Well, just because you don't give two shits about anything doesn't mean the rest of us want to be that way,"

He felt something sharp nip at the skin behind his ear and he stifled a yelp with difficulty-because at that moment, Kai's hot breath hit his ear again.

"_I suggest you heed my advice-because the sooner you accept that death is just another part of life, the more suited you will be to deal with this sick little game we're currently involved in,_"he intoned silkily, his hands smoothing down Tala's shirt and progressing slowly to his hips.

Kai's teeth grazed the redhead's collarbone, making him jump slightly and Tala had to force himself not to groan as Kai sucked on the old hickey and gloved hands bruised hips even through the waistband of his jeans.

"_You have no idea how much I'd like to take you right here, on your gut-covered floor or against your bloodstained walls, if not only to show you how little I care about this man's death. But somehow, I'd think you'd object-so this will have to wait."_

Kai paused a second to lap appreciatively at Tala's pink-tinted skin before releasing him abruptly and declaring, "_Let's go."_

He didn't wait for Tala's response and left the room without sparing it another glance.

The redhead had to actually walk out of the door and close it behind him before vanishing himself.

* * *

**September 8**

**05:30am**

When they arrived back at the underground operations base, they found the Gamemaster waiting for them in the entrance hall, clad in his customary mottled green cloak and standing at the center of the room with his arms crossed and one ankle tucked behind the other.

"You fucking asshole!"Tala lashed out the second he caught sight of the shorter Japanese man;he didn't even think before launching at him furiously.

A black-gloved hand closed like a vice around his forearm, though, effectively halting before he was able to close more than a few steps distance between him and the indifferent target of his rage.

"_Don't rise-it's what he wants,_"Kai's silky Russian accent intoned softly from behind him.

An amused smirk curved the pale, golden-tinged lips of the Gamemaster as he sneered in a belittling tone, "That's right, Hiwatari, keep your pet under control. Losing that control won't be doing him any favours right now,"

"What the hell were you thinking, killing Shark?He has no part in this,"the wolf seethed vehemently, struggling in vain to escape Kai's grip on him.

The sneer widened and turned cruel.

"The reality is quite the contrary, actually, _**volk**_. He was an operative of the establishment and an old friend of Uchiha's;so I think killing him was akin to killing two birds with one stone-or tormenting two player with one move, as it were,"the Gamemaster contradicted him smugly, a predatory look now on his almond-skinned face.

Tala was just about ready to start spitting nails.

"We know who you are,"he stated abruptly. Clearly fighting to restrain himself from venting out all of his ire, "We know we aren't the only ones against whom you've sinned,"

"Don't talk to me about sinning, _Ivanov._ You, of all people, should know that everyone commits sins sometimes-some of us more than others,"the Gamemaster's crystalline gaze lingered daggers on the four players so sharply, it could have cut glass.

"So why? Why go through all of this trouble to manipulate us?"Itachi cut in, speaking in a strangely placid tone, lips barely moving as he spoke.

His words brought another humourless smirk to their target's pale lips and he let out a coldly mirthless laugh.

"You know who I am and all my crimes. I'm willing to bet you know what my real name is, too and yet you still aren't able to figure out the reason I'd want revenge on you? So much for being the elite in intelligence,"he commented disdainfully, shaking his hooded head almost regretfully/

"I suggest you answer me, _Rider_,"Itachi intoned, voice now taking on a dangerously silky undertone as he stared down the Gamemaster unwaveringly and flicked out a Sig Sauer from his belt, directing the barrel between Kyoya's eyes.

The smirk didn't waver;instead, it seemed to grow.

"You want to know the reason why I'm doing all of this? Well, I'll tell you,"he said in a voice so soft, it was almost a purr,

"I was fifteen years old when the establishment falsely accused my parents, Scott and Sarina Rider, of crimes they didn't commit. They tried to refute the accusations, but you, _Commander_, you wouldn't have it. And standing alone in the kitchen, I had to watch as you had Uchiha the life out of them as well as Hiwatari cutting them to pieces with that scalpel of his. Then, the prophecy of conquest involved Uchiha's brother and Blake Cameron, so I figured why not get revenge and ultimate power at the same time?"

Silence.

That was what met his explanation until Itachi uncharacteristically snapped his fingers to break it.

"That's why those names sounded familiar,"he said dully, muttering to himself;then he turned an apathetic eye on the Lion Rider, "Is that all, then? That's the reason why you decided to disrupt all of our lives and murder everyone we know?"

"Why, yes;and if you don't think that's enough to justify my actions, then that's your problem. The Game will continue-and so will your torment. Let's wait and see who wins,"

With that elegant parting sentence, Kyoya disappeared with a blur of mottled green.

* * *

HOLY CRAP!That took forever!But I finally finished. Now don't expect the next chapter for awhile because I'm gonna be working on the Seventh Sacrifice and school starts in like 6 days so I'm gonna have even less time to write since I also might be getting a job and I still don't have any idea what I really want to happen in chapter 9.

Until next time, though.


	9. Author's Note

Okay, Author's note time.

Hey everyone, I hate to be the bringer of bad news but as of today, this story is henceforth abandoned. If anyone is still following this, I am so sorry, but inspiration has run screaming from me on this story. So chapter 8 is now the last chapter. And the ending is out the ze window.

So sorry.

THE END


End file.
